Letter of the week: 5-day week for pre-school teachers is good, but not longer weekdays
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Most early childhood educators were grateful to hear this as this meant more quality time with their families.
PHOTO: ST FILE
As part of ongoing efforts to improve the working conditions of early childhood (EC) educators, it was announced in July 2023 that the mandatory requirement for childcare centres to operate on Saturdays would be removed, with this change starting in January 2025.
Most early childhood educators were grateful to hear this as this meant more quality time with their families.
However, this happiness was short-lived when some pre-schools announced that to fulfil the existing contractual hours of 44 hours per working week, educators are expected to extend their working hours during the five-day week. This is despite there being no extension of operating hours in the pre-school during the weekdays.
Pre-school educators are known to face heavy workloads. Taking care of 15 to 25 active pre-schoolers for 10 hours is no easy task.
The work does not end after the educators leave the pre-school, as they are expected to prepare the next day’s teaching materials and also differentiated activities to cater to the different learning abilities of children. Even during the one-hour lunch break to recharge themselves, some educators need to attend to crying children or those who have toileting needs during nap time.
If the EC educators are not well rested, it often results in burnout and many exit the industry after several years. Extending the weekday working hours in return for a five-day working week does not improve the working conditions of the EC educators, as longer work hours will result in faster burnout.
If there is no choice but to fulfil the contractual number of work hours, EC educators can fulfil these hours by, for example, doing meaningful volunteer work or even using the time to take courses to improve their mental wellness or to further their hobbies.
EC educators welcome the five-day week for preschools, but implementation is key.
Overall, the main objective is to ensure a work-life balance for EC educators, not to remove something and then add on another “stress factor” which, at the end of the day, defeats the purpose of the main objective.
Paulyn Leong