The Ministry of Education (MOE) will be co-locating all MOE-run kindergartens in primary schools, as the Ministry found that this improves the learning experiences of the pre-schoolers and students, according to a report by Todayonline.
This facilitates collaboration on programmes and activities between both the kindergarten as well as the primary school.
Currently, 12 of the 15 branches of MOE Kindergarten in Singapore are already co-located in primary schools. Three more at Fernvale Link, Yishun and Tampines will be relocated to nearby primary schools from 2019 onwards. New kindergartens that open in the future will also follow this arrangement.
The collaboration with primary schools will be able to help ease the children’s transition from pre-school to primary school, Serena Park, the centre head of MOE Kindergarten at Riverside in Woodlands, told reporters yesterday.
Panmeline Wong, the centre head of MOE Kindergarten at Punggol View, responded to concerns that pre-schoolers may start learning things that would only be taught in primary school later. She said that the kindergarten programmes are very distinct, and there would be no "pushing down" of primary school curriculum to the younger children.
The MOE Kindergarten branches were first set up between 2014 and 2016, providing activities that focus on quality interactions. For instance, teachers use prompts and ask key questions to engage the children in conversations and to help build on ideas and concepts. Each day, an hour is set aside for bilingual programmes.