*This article originally appeared in The Star on October 8, 2013
By Royce T.G Tan
SMALL feet danced and little heads bobbed on stage as children from St Nicholas Montessori Centre performed for the crowd at SEGi College Subang Jaya, Selangor.
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Sing-along: Children from the centre singing ‘It’s a Small World’ with (back row, from left) Ng, Dr Tan, Dr Lee and Chok.
The presentation was part of SEGi University Group’s launch of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Edupreneur Fund.
To equip the public with the skills and qualifications required to manage childcare enrichment centres, RM10mil in funding will be dedicated to two up-skilling initiatives — the SEGi Edupreneur fund and the Principal’s Scholarship fund.
The SEGi Edupreneuer Fund is meant to be seed money given to chosen candidates, enabling them to open and manage their own childcare enrichment centres.
The Principal’s Scholarship Fund on the other hand, is where principals from preschools, primary and secondary schools are granted scholarships to pursue further education.
SEGi College Subang Jaya principal Dr Lisa Tan thanked Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia deputy rector Dr Lee Boon Hua, the college’s education faculty head Rosaline Ng and operations deputy principal Chok Soo Yan for their support.
“The launch of this groundbreaking fund is in commemoration of SEGi College Subang Jaya’s appointment as the new Centre of Excellence for ECCE under the Entry Point Project (EPP) 2.
“Since 1999, we have produced over 1,500 quality ECCE graduates that come from diverse backgrounds, such as nursing, pharmacy, communications, linguistics and business.
“In support of the ECCE fraternity in Malaysia, SEGi Education Group has pledged RM1mil in scholarship funding for pre-service students and in-service teachers,” said Dr Tan.
The EPP 2 will work to grow the Greater KL and Klang Valley’s population by an additional four million to 10 million workers by the year 2020 to meet employment and gross national income growth demands.
Out of the four million, 2.5 million will comprise foreign expatriates and Malaysians living outside the region.
Dr Lee applauded SEGi’s efforts and stressed the importance of providing quality education for children.
Sharing his experience, Dr Lee explained that as a child, he had a strong Indian accent that he picked up from his adoptive parents.
“In school, my teacher would often mistake my voice for someone else’s as my accent was thicker than my Indian classmates.
“The first 16 months of a child’s life is spent receiving sights and sounds, so my parents were leaving a deep impression on me.
“This shows that the most important thing as ECCE practitioners is to give these young children the three C’s — compassion, care and concern,” said Dr Lee.
The event ended with a tour of the ECCE facilities which Ng hoped would become a communal resource centre that enriches the teaching experience through sharing of teaching aids and learning tools.
Tokens of appreciation were also handed out to SEGi ECCE industry partners that will host future ECCE trainees during their work placement period.