ST Forum : "Preschool Teachers' Pay Rise : No Strings" , "Pay More to Qualified Preschool Teachers"

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"Preschool teachers' pay rise: No strings"

I WAS happy when I read last Wednesday about a salary rise for preschool teachers, only to be disappointed after reading that, in order to get an increase, we need to teach enrichment classes.

Teaching in preschool is a demanding job, preparing children for concerts, exposing ourselves to diseases like hand, foot and mouth and chicken pox, and often having to clean up their faeces and vomit. We have the responsibility to ensure they know how to read and write by year-end, regardless of parental help, and ensure their safety all year round. It is a stressful and draining job, both mentally and physically.

The least we could expect is a reasonable salary. I don't think it is too much to expect, for we have a family to support. For those of us who are married, if something happens to our spouse (and I pray not), how can we support our elderly parents and children on $1,400 to $1,800 pay in this day and age? With inflation and now recession. It is really quite spirit dampening.

Just yesterday, my relative commented that I am in the wrong line of work, with such low returns. I wonder myself many times. I am presently upgrading myself, taking a degree in Early Childhood, but still wonder if I have made the wrong decision. I will not get five-figure pay, compared to someone in business. I have to be practical, so why study more, I ask. When I ask my coursemates about salaries, they all grumbled at such 'miserable pay'. They would not have stayed, if not for their passion to teach children. So my question is, have we been taken for granted all these years?

I hope the Government will seriously look into this, or we will lose all the passionate teachers.

Chang Choon Kheng (Mdm)


"Pay more to qualified preschool teachers"

THIS letter is in support of Madam Chang Choon Kheng's letter last Tuesday, 'Preschool teachers' pay rise: No strings'.

I fully agree with her on the reasons she gave for a pay rise for preschool teachers. There is one more to add - that is the duty of teachers to give motherly love and affection to toddlers in school.

In addition, preschool teachers' pay is not according to qualification but experience. I agree that experience counts, but so does the extra knowledge a teacher has in the form of a higher qualification. A more qualified teacher can present a lesson better than one who has the minimum qualification, using the same teaching material and resources.

The only reason the better qualified teacher chooses to work in preschool is, as Madam Chang suggested, her passion to teach young children.

There are teachers with various qualifications, such as O and A levels, certificate, diploma, graduate degree and even master's degree. But there is no difference in the pay they get. This is very frustrating and one reason many preschools lose good teachers to better-paying jobs.
I hope the Government will look into this matter seriously and take action.

Veena K.H. (Mrs)

Comments:

I do empathize with Mdm Chang, as I am a preschool educator myself and I feel that our sector is a low paying sector no doubt. I feel the plight of most the preschool teachers in Singapore. Preschool education in Singapore has evolved from using textbooks and rote learning to a totally hands on experience, using play based, thematic and integrated learning. Due to this, preschool educators need to be more creative, always keeping in mind of creating developmentally appropriate programs, always on the ball without the aid of any textbooks and permanent tables and chairs for children as they would be learning from their environment and creative movements/expressions. With that, the demands of preschool educators are beyond what meets the eye in comparison to teachers teaching in primary schools. My personal view is that if the government is increasing the qualification for primary school teachers to graduates when they are currently holding either �A� level certificates or diploma, I feel that our teachers in this preschool sector who are mostly diploma holders should be paid on par with the primary school teachers with the same benefits that they are holding such as the medical, school holidays (for kindergarten teachers), etc. I feel that despite the work that we have done as stated by Mdm Chang, we are not appreciated as reflected by our salary. Mdm Chang states that the salary range for teachers in this sector is $1400 to $1800. But I feel that there are teachers out there who are qualified yet are still paid less than $1000. I feel saddened by the state of our preschool educators in Singapore. There has not been a benchmark for salaries but benchmark on our qualification. Our preschool teachers welfare has not been taken care of but the families of our �clients� are by providing them with subsidies and financial assistance. If there is such assistance for our �clients�, why don�t they do the same for the preschool centres who wants to pay their quality teachers more but are not able to due to the inability for parents to pay such a high fee for their children�s education even if they do decide to increase the school�s fee in order to increase their teachers pay. With a positive mindset, I do feel that our salaries will increase but it will take time. Boy it will take a long time for our government to set aside revenue for this sector, maybe by then I would have already gotten my CPF. Anyways� Salutes to all preschool teachers!!!

Posted by: Shyuhadaa at Tue Oct 21 20:52:07 SGT 200

A Blog Posted by Singapore's Youngest Millionaire

Words of wisdom for us (perhaps)..

A Blog Posted by Singapore 's Youngest Millionaire
By Adam Khoo



Some of you may already know that I travel around the region pretty frequently, having to visit and conduct seminars at my offices in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Suzhou (China). I am in the airport almost every other week so I get to bump into many people who have attended my seminars or have read my books.



Recently, someone came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked. He asked, 'How come a millionaire like you is travelling economy?' My reply was, 'That's why I am a millionaire.' He still looked pretty confused. This again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth (which I wrote about in my latest book 'Secrets of Self Made Millionaires'). Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex, and sit on first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the moment that earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.



The truth is that most self-made millionaires are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster. Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my income while today I save only about 60% (because I have my wife, mother in law, 2 maids, 2 kids, etc. to support). Still, it is way above most people who save 10% of their income (if they are lucky). I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice.



When I joined the YEO (Young Entrepreneur's Organization) a few years back (YEO is an exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over $1m a year in their own business), I discovered that those who were self-made thought like me. Many of them with net worths well over $5m, travelled economy class and some even drove Toyota's and Nissans (not Audis, Mercs, BMWs).



I noticed that it was only those who never had to work hard to build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers' and tycoons' sons in the club) who spent like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family's wealth (no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation. Thank God my rich dad (oh no! I sound like Kiyosaki) foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start my business.



Then some people ask me, 'What is the point in making so much money if you don't enjoy it?' The thing is that I don't really find happiness in buying branded clothes, jewellery or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is only for a while, it does not last. Material happiness never lasts, it just give you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.



Instead, what make ME happy is when I see my children laughing and playing and learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see my companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries. What makes me really happy is when I read all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched and inspired someone's life. What makes me really happy is reading all your wonderful posts about how this BLOG is inspiring you. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.



I think the point I want to put across is that happiness must come from doing your life's work (be in teaching, building homes, designing, trading, winning tournaments etc.) and the money that comes is only a by-product. If you hate what you are doing and rely on the money you earn to make you happy by buying stuff, then I think that you are living a meaningless life.

Autism: Desperately seeking a cure

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Autism: Desperately seeking a cure
Aug 16, 2008DAEDALUS: TECHNOLOGICAL TRIUMPHS AND CHALLENGES
By Andy Ho

ABOUT 80 per cent of an online support group of 560 parents here have resorted to some alternative therapy for their children's autistic condition.

These run the gamut from megadoses of vitamins C and B6 or omega-3 fatty acids to gluten-free or casein-free diets. Then there are the potentially deadly therapies, including the use of Avandia and Actos.

These are drugs for diabetes that came to market in the late 1990s. But it was only last year that they were confirmed to cause, on occasion, heart failure in the young with normal hearts. (When a drug intended for a specific ailment - say, diabetes - is prescribed for something else - say, autism - that is called an off-label use. Such use is not illegal, per se.)

Traditionally, autism was diagnosed only in children who showed a profound indifference to, a lack of empathy for and social withdrawal from other people, including parents and siblings.

In 1994, however, the American Psychiatric Association expanded its definition of autism in its Diagnostic And Statistical Manual (4th edition), or DSM-IV, to encompass a broader range of disorders. Autism is now referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and includes related disabilities, such as PDD-NOS (pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified).

In the DSM-IV, the psychiatrist's bible the world over, all items on the checklist for autism - including language impairments, developmental delays, sensory impairment, personality disorders and so on - are given equal weightage. However, 90 per cent of these symptoms are not specific to autism.

As is true with all other DSM-IV disorders, the diagnosis of ASD is based solely on symptoms. There is no specific laboratory test to nail it down objectively, so there might be non-autistic kids diagnosed with ASD. The numbers diagnosed as being autistic, not unexpectedly, rose after DSM-IV - and, in tandem, so did the demand for offbeat therapies.

Here's why: There is no known cure for autism but one therapy known to help patients is that which teaches patients to imitate their teachers. This behavioural therapy is done one-on-one for up to 40 hours a week over many years. This being an arduous process, parents naturally look for short cuts.

Sometimes, fad therapies seem to work because autism, like many other disorders, displays a natural pattern: Symptoms get worse at times and diminish at others. When symptoms get really bad, parents hunt for magic cures; and when the symptoms abate naturally afterwards, the improvement is attributed to the new 'cure'. Parents want to believe.

Moreover, fad treatments are now widely discussed on the Internet. As a result, parents who are extremely motivated to help their kids become easy prey for quacks. If parents perceive their doctors to be dismissive or dogmatic, they might even abandon mainstream treatment altogether. So the Health Ministry has rightly formed a committee of experts to review available research on and issue guidelines about alternative therapies for autism by next year so parents can choose more wisely among them.

One particular therapy the committee should review is chelation, where certain chemicals are administered orally or intravenously in the hope that they will stick to heavy metals present in the body, which are then flushed out in the urine. Advocates of this treatment say the mercury (as thimerosal) in childhood vaccines is the cause of autism, so chelation to bind mercury in the body should help.

Though approved only for acute heavy metal poisoning, there are some doctors here who administer chelating agents using in-office intravenous drips. Most doctors do not believe chelation can help in autism cases. After reviewing the world's best studies, the US Institute of Medicine concluded in 2004 that thimerosal is not a cause of autism.

Nevertheless, widespread belief in the link persists. In fact, advocacy groups are now parading a US court decision in March in which a family sued the government, claiming that vaccines had caused their daughter's autism. The US government settled the suit after concluding the baby shots had 'significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder' which caused a brain disorder 'with features of autism spectrum disorder'.

When those tiny power stations in our cells called mitochondria don't function well, many normal body functions go awry - much like a factory located in an area with frequent brownouts. What the US authorities actually conceded was that the vaccines had exacerbated an underlying condition caused by sick mitochondria in the child, who then developed symptoms found in DSM-IV's long checklist for an ASD diagnosis.

Those symptoms, it ought to be noted, can also be found in many non-ASD patients who encountered problems in their brains as the organ was developing.

Thus the child in question must have been initially diagnosed as ASD, whereas further tests revealed that she actually had a mitochondrial disorder instead. The United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has stated categorically that it was 'a complete mischaracterisation of the findings of the (court) case, and...of the science' to say vaccines cause autism. But as the case was settled for an undisclosed sum, court documents have been sealed. Predictably, advocates smelt a cover-up.

The Singapore committee of experts has its work cut out. Sceptics, wedded understandably to hope, will scrutinise its report very carefully. We wish it well.

andyho@sph.com.sg

[Every now and again, I wonder if psychiatry has progress much beyond Freud's pscyho-analysis, and every now and again, I have to conclude that it hasn't advanced very much. Everybody is a scientist. Everyone uses Occam's razor to cut away the details to get at the simplistic explanation. What is clear is that the increasing number of Autism diagnosis is due to the expanding DSM-IV definition of autism spectrum disorder. And many of these "disorder" are nowhere near what is generally understood to be true autism. Perhaps Singapore will be brave enough to say, "we know what autism is and what it is not and most of those diagnosed as autistic are not. They have developmental delays or issues, but they are not autistic." This is like the false memory pandemic. If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. If you have a gun, everything looks like a target.]

MCYS : Improving Quality in Childcare Centres

On the ST Forum today..

Improving quality in childcare centres

I REFER to the letter by Ms Grace Yong, 'Better quality not a given: Operator' (Sept 24).

Ms Yong erroneously claimed that extended maternity and childcare leave provisions will contribute to cost increases in childcare centres. We wish to point out that the extension of maternity leave by four weeks, and three of the four extra days of childcare leave, will be fully paid for by the Government for eligible employees. Hence, childcare centres will be able to employ additional staff using money they would otherwise have paid their regular teachers. Consequently, childcare centres should not use this as an excuse to raise fees.

The more important issue is quality. This requires teachers who have talent, reasonable grades, good training and character. There are no short cuts, and we should not shortchange our children. MCYS would like to clarify that the course leading to the certificate in pre-school teaching will continue to be offered for childcare personnel who wish to work with children in nursery and pre-nursery classes.

We note that many teachers in the childcare sector already have a diploma in pre-school education-teaching. Existing teachers who wish to upgrade their qualifications can do so on a part-time basis, even as they continue to work in a childcare centre. MCYS will work with centres to offer scholarships and bursaries for childcare personnel to pursue early childhood diploma and degree courses. MCYS will also ensure there are sufficient training places for existing and new teachers, on both a full- and part-time basis. The increased child care subsidies and Baby Bonus will more than offset any cost increases due to our efforts to enhance quality.

MCYS will process subsidy claims after centres provide us with enrolment data on a monthly basis. We encourage childcare centres to submit data promptly, so subsidies can be disbursed to centres without delay.

MCYS will continue to work closely with our industry partners to ensure high quality and affordable childcare services.

Lee Kim Hua Director,

Family Services Division

Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS)