KINDERGARTENS here have begun a big drive to share teaching practices in a bid to upgrade the quality of pre-school education.

About 750 kindergarten teachers and principals on Wednesday took part in a forum, at which shared best practices and received awards for their work. The turnout was the biggest since the annual event started two years ago.

The move is the latest in the series of moves by the government to raise pre-school education standards.

In March, the Ministry of Education announced that it will be raising the minimum qualification standards of pre-school teachers in the next few years.

For example, from January, new pre-school teachers must have five O-level credits and obtain a diploma in pre-school education-teaching within four years of joining the sector.

The 750 teachers and principals at Wednesday's forum came from nearly 500 kindergartens here. In previous years, about 500 to 600 would attend.

They got insights into innovative teaching methods during the 14 sharing sessions by MOE, kindergartens, schools and the National Institute of Education. This is twice the number of sharing sessions in previous years.

The event also saw the work of outstanding teachers and centres being commended. Winners were nominated by principals and selected by a panel of judges made up of education experts.