We thank Forum writer Lee Yim May for the letter, “Pre-school teachers sacrifice their family time to nurture our kids” (Dec 1).

The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) shares Ms Lee’s view that all of us should recognise the contributions and sacrifices of our pre-school educators. ECDA works with government-supported pre-schools to ensure educators’ salaries correspond with their contributions and professional skills, as well as to support the sector’s continued growth. We announced recently that these educators can expect a 10 to 30 per cent increase in their monthly gross salaries over the next two years, with better performers receiving larger increases.

However, attracting and retaining talent within the early childhood sector goes beyond fair and competitive salaries. ECDA is engaging operators, educators and parents to co-develop solutions to improve educators’ well-being and working conditions.

Ideas include reviewing the need for centres to operate on Saturdays, for better work-life balance, and increasing non-contact time for personal respite and professional reflection.

These ideas will require all to play their part to make our pre-schools a better workplace for educators.

Pre-school operators need to adopt more sustainable work practices to manage working hours and the workload of educators. Parents who tap Saturday pre-school services today will have to make alternative arrangements if centres do not open on Saturdays.

Employers can also play their part in facilitating flexible work arrangements so that their staff can pick up their children earlier from pre-schools, or care for them on Saturdays.

Centres, parents and educators have different needs, and ECDA is currently engaging them. We will need everyone’s support and understanding as we find ways to address and balance these needs.

We hope to share the outcomes of the engagements by mid-2023.

Cynthia Leow

Director, Policy and Sector Funding

Early Childhood Development Agency