End of SIF Early-Childhood Care Project Marks Start of Nation-wide Seminar and New Resource Centre in Myanmar

Yangon, Myanmar, 3 September 2009 — It was a project not without its challenges. Twice, the Singapore International Foundation had to bring to a halt the Singapore Volunteers Overseas (SVO) project on early childhood care and development in Myanmar.

Once in late 2007 when the Saffron Revolution triggered widespread civil unrest; and again in May 2008 when Cyclone Nargis whipped through southern Myanmar leaving a trail of death and destruction. It was not till May 2009 that the SIF resumed the project.

Today, the SVO Specialist Team (Early Childhood Care and Development) Project which began five years ago comes to a successful close with a nation-wide seminar and the opening of a resource centre for local practitioners.

The first SIF-led team of volunteers to Yangon spent three weeks in July 2004 training counterparts in areas like child development; special needs; learning behaviour; the role of teachers; overall learning environment for children; development of curriculum; parent and community involvement; making of resources for child’s learning; and even on how adults learn.

Subsequent training was carried out in November–December 2004 (Yangon); November 2005 (Mandalay); February–March 2006 (Mandalay).

During that period, 16 Myanmar practitioners were supported on visit studies to Singapore, a group of 10 from March–April 2005 and another group of six in October 2006. Here they observed various preschools around Singapore, focusing specifically on child-centred learning and class management.

The SVO team comprised Singapore practitioners from organisations such as Regional Training and Resource Centre in ECCE for Asia (RTRC Asia Pte Ltd), Advent Link SAUC Pte Ltd, Kiddy Junction Child Development, Zee school and various independent ECCD consultants and trainers. The volunteers were led by volunteer team leader Dr Khoo Kim Choo, chairman of The Sunbird Child Development Centre Pte Ltd and a veteran of ECCD training in Singapore with more than 25 years of local and international experience in the early childhood field.

To conclude the learning, from 3 to 4 September 2009, a seminar on preschool education in Myanmar will address issues such as training provisions, garnering of support in early childhood care and development, from decision-makers in various organisations. It will also elaborate on the Myanmar-Singapore collaboration in the training of practitioners, where the SIF has partnered the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) in Myanmar. The seminar is co-organised by the two partners and expects an attendance of 120 participants.

The seminar will also be marked by the opening of a resource centre on 4 September, to which the SIF has donated $15,000 worth of materials and equipment. These include reference books, samples of good children’s books, journals, magazines, and multimedia training aids such as CDs and DVDs. Equipment such as a DVD player, computer, printer and photocopier to facilitate research have also been provided.

Says Ms Jean Tan, SIF’s Executive Director, "We appreciate the friendship and commitment of the Department of Social Welfare as a partner in this project. Since 2004, they have worked alongside us to engage educators throughout Lower and Upper Myanmar—jointly setting up a model centre, creating curricula, and documenting the implementation of what they've learned—never swaying from the course despite the interruptions. For this resource centre, while the SIF has provided training, training materials and some hardware, the DSW has renovated and furnished the centre at an estimated cost of USD10,000. The DSW has also mobilised practitioners on the ground, by inviting government, non-government, UN agencies and International NGOs to attend and contribute to the seminar. By working together, we have been able to serve more."

Having returned to Yangon this year to resume training, SVO team leader Dr Khoo Kim Choo, says, “When we read about the succession of unrest and disaster in the last two years, we could only watch from afar and hope that our friends in Myanmar were safe. It’s good to be back to continue what we’d come here for five years ago.

“We are happy to note that counterparts at the Department of Social Welfare now have 60 local trainers from the Department of Social Welfare, Ministry of Education and various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who can train others in early childhood education. For ongoing support, two manuals—a reference one detailing all the training given and another on creating low-cost educational material for young children—have been developed. A resource centre for early childhood education has also been set up at DSW’s training centre in Yangon. It houses a variety of books, including literature on child development, child psychology, early childhood curriculum, and health and hygiene. Samples of low cost teaching/learning aids, a computer and photocopier are also available. Finally, two demonstration centres, in Yangon and Mandalay, have been developed with the trainees to serve as a reference for other preschools.”