Conference an effort to ensure only qualified people teach kids

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THE National Children’s Conference (NCC) is an event held to create greater awareness on the need for a holistic early childhood education system in Malaysia, including trained educators, well-regulated guidelines and nurturing environment.

Organised by HELP University College Department of Education and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), the first National Children’s Conference will be held on Nov 29 and 30 at Menara Matrade, Kuala Lumpur.

The conference aims to provide a forum for educators involved in early childhood and pre-school education in the private sector to deliberate on current developments in public education that could impact on the fraternity of childhood educators.

Time to brainstorm: (From left) Lee, Noraini and Wong discussing details of the upcoming National Children’s Conference.

According to Unesco, early childhood is defined as the period from birth to eight years old.

UPSI deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) Prof Dr Noraini Idris said it is important for educators of early childhood learning to be graduates specialising in that field, which is a practice in developed countries.

“The educators need to be well-trained and well-equipped to be able to nurture and develop the children’s thinking skills from young,” she said.

“In the United Kingdom, children are encouraged to express themselves when they are able to start talking. They also believe that a child’s visual and hearing skills are most powerful the moment they are born.”

In comparison, in Malaysia, Noraini said a person can be a teacher for young children with just an SPM exam qualification and some training.

Because of this factor and increasing demand by working families, Childline Malaysia project director PH Wong said that childcare centres have mushroomed throughout the country.

“However, it is estimated that 3,000 of the childcare centres are unregistered,” said Wong, who is also Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia vice- president.

“We want to highlight the need for well-qualified, knowledgeable and skilled people as children educators. One of the reasons for child abuse is that people don’t understand how to deal with them.”

While the newly established Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Council focuses on the infrastructure on ECCE, HELP University College head of early childhood education Dr Frances Lee said the conference would look into the soft skills to create a formalised programme for ECCE certification.

The NCC is targeted at those involved in early and pre-school education, teachers, parents, researchers, NGOs and policymakers interested in childhood education.

It features a line-up of local and foreign speakers, with Noraini and Lee as keynote presenters, and Wong conducting one of the special interest sessions.

“The NCC is an inclusive event with a variety of practices that can be implemented and ideas to learn from. It covers many topics, including the need for early intervention, the Permata programme, and role of early childhood educators,” said Noraini.

Lee said the two-day conference will have a good practice session covering various subjects on the first day, and a concurrent session the next day focusing on special interests like gifted children, children at risk, and special needs association.

Besides an MOU signing between HELP University College and UPSI, Noraini said the conference was looking towards the establishment of a National Children’s Research Council for research and planning purposes and to complement the ECCE Council’s efforts.

Fees for the NCC are RM350 per person.