Draft:National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC)

The National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC; Chinese: 国立幼儿培育教育学院) is a training institute set up by Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) under the ambit of the National Institute of Education (NIE). NIEC serves as a centralised institute for early childhood development, with the aim of raising the standard of preschool educator training. Working together with the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and MOE, they provide a range of diplomas and certificates for both aspiring and existing early childhood educators.

Mission, Vision & Values

 * Mission: To develop early childhood educators to nurture, inspire, educate, and care for every child


 * Vision: The leading institute for early childhood educators - Inspiring excellence in practice


 * Values: Respect, integrity, care, collaboration, excellence

History
During the National Day Rally on 20 August 2017, former Prime Minister, current Senior Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, announced the establishment of NIEC as part of a series of measures to improve the early childhood sector. As a centralised institute for early childhood development, it brought together all early childhood courses that were under the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and the SEED Institute and provided a full range of diploma and certificate courses for preschool professionals.

In 2019, NIEC was officially set up, with its headquarters located within NIE’s premises in the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) campus.

Courses
NIEC offers training and courses for two main groups – pre-service educators and in-service educators.

Pre-Service Educators
This includes both post-secondary students and adult learners. Post-secondary students can choose to take up the Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education at either the NIEC (NP) or NIEC (TP) campus, or Higher Nitec in Early Childhood Education at the NIEC (ITE) campus. The Diploma in Tamil Studies with Early Childhood is also offered at the NIEC (NP) campus. These courses are offered full-time, and the post-secondary students would be considered students of both NIEC and the polytechnic or ITE they enrolled in. Adult learners can choose to take part-time or full-time courses that are typically held at the NIEC (City) campus.

NIEC works closely with Workforce Singapore (WSG), Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), to provide courses for adult learners, allowing them to work and study at the same time under the Career Conversion Programme. NIEC also collaborates with ECDA-licensed preschools across Singapore to provide practicum and internship opportunities for all its students.

In-Service Educators
In-service educators can deepen and upgrade their skills with specialised certificates, post-diplomas, and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses offered by NIEC. This allows them to gain knowledge in niche early childhood areas, improving their teaching capabilities to better serve the needs of young children.