Established diploma accredited by Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)
​Weekly practicum attachment at childcare centres from year one
​​Second or third-year students may be selected for a two-week Global Education Trip (GeT) to visit early education centres in Australia, Hong Kong or Taiwan
​New Academy for Early Childhood Education (ACE) offers Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes to support your professional development after graduation
​Choice of two tracks: Early Literacy or Early Childhood Teaching
With increasing importance of pre-school education in Singapore, you will have a big role to play as an early childhood educator! Fully accredited by ECDA, the Diploma in Early Childhood Education (ECH) is the most established diploma of its kind that offers a well-developed curriculum and many exciting learning opportunities.
Weekly attachments with childcare centres right from your first year means you get the chance to apply and hone your skills alongside experienced teachers. You will also get to build your knowledge with foundational modules such as Child Development and Child Health & Well-being.
In your second year, you will continue your weekly field practice while learning about the holistic development of a child, and curriculum planning and design. You will also have the opportunity to embark on a two-week Global Education Trip (GeT) that will provide a first-hand look at the early childhood education centres and practices around the world, including those in Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In the final year, you will get to choose from two exciting tracks.
Early Literacy Track
You will learn how to create educational resources and literacy programmes, and develop competence in teaching literacy to children.
Early Childhood Teaching
This track offers two electives: ‘Physical Development & Play for Young Children’ and ‘Music & Dance for Young Children’ for you to choose to deepen your teaching skills and knowledge. You will also experience developing, implementing and presenting a project aimed at improving teaching practices and/or benefit the community. As part of the Skills Future Initiative, you undergo an Enhanced Internship with a structured training stint in a preschool setting.
Equipped with a diploma in ECH, you will be ready to work as an early childhood professional. But that's not all that we offer. While working or teaching, choose to deepen your skills with our Academy for Early Childhood Education (ACE) which offers a suite of Continuing Education Training (CET) programmes including pedagogy, languages, early years care, special needs and leadership, to support your professional development in this field.
Eligible students may also apply for training awards offered by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the Social Service Awards (SSA) offered by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) of up to $40,000. The award offers you an $800 monthly allowance, full course fee sponsorship, professional development funding, and a one-off grant of $1,050 for study-related expenses.
Careers
ECH graduates can work as early childhood educators or as trained professional in various agencies that offer services for children and families.
Further studies
ECH graduates get to enjoy up to one semester's worth of exemption for relevant degree programmes at Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.
You can also enjoy exemptions for the following overseas degree programmes:
Queensland University of Technology (Australia)
- Bachelor of Early Childhood Studies
- Bachelor of Education