United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

The role of Ministry of Education (MOE) focuses on raising the quality of pre-school education in Singapore through developing policies, regulating and monitoring kindergartens, and setting standards for quality assurance in the sector.

Pupils

The government of Singapore places great importance in ensuring children between the ages of 4-6 receives preschool education before these children enters Primary schools for their compulsory education. In Jul 2006, the government setup an inter-agency committee to identify and reach out to children who are not attending pre-school. The outcome of the inter-agencies effort surfaced that 5% of the population of 6 year old children not receiving any pre-school education. MOE’s role in providing data on these children is critical to allow for timely implementation of outreach and intervention efforts.

Public
The pre-school sector consists of the kindergartens and child care centres. It is regulated by two government agencies, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) respectively. Parents who have pre-school going children often do not know the difference in the services provided by kindergartens and child care centres and who the regulatory party is. Many often have to rely on word of mouth or own research to look for available pre-school centres near their home or workplace. There is also no readily available information on the sector to better advice parents on their choice of service.

Kindergarten
Each year, MOE conduct data verification exercise with their kindergartens partners. The data verification exercise involves collection of pupil (enrolment and class data), kindergarten (centre particulars and program data) and teacher quality (qualifications and training status) data. The exercise is conducted manually and consolidated by MOE for analysis and outreach effort.

During crisis like Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Hand Food Mouth Disease (HFMD), community engagement in times of unrest, information dissemination needs to be efficient and reliable. Prompt reporting on up-to-date statistics by kindergartens is crucial, these inefficiency and unreliability potentially handicap the recovery status. Such circulars were previously disseminated using post, fax and emails.

Teachers
MOE recognizes that the key to quality pre-school education is teacher quality. Between 2000 and 2008, MOE announced several enhanced requirements to upgrade principal and teacher qualifications. Timely updates of these qualifications are crucial for MOE to track and monitor the percentage of kindergartens with teachers and principals meeting these requirements and conduct any follow-up action.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
MOE introduced the Kindergarten Link (K-Link) to enhance the data management of MOE, support kindergartens in enhancing their administrative efficiency and provide kindergartens a direct communication link with MOE. K-Link was launched by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education, at the MOE Kindergarten Conference 2010 on 4 June 2010. Features in K-Link are categorised into 5 domains: Administration - Modules under this domain enable kindergartens to update their profiles, teachers’ particulars and pupils’ data, manage class data and reports, such as class registers. K-Link facilitates accurate capturing of pupils’ data. MOE can therefore better identify children who are not attending pre-school. Application - Applications for appointment of principals, pre-school programmes, and change in fees can be done directly in K-Link. The system is also linked with the Singapore Government’s Online Business Licensing System (OBLS). Online applications remove the hassle in submitting hardcopy forms and hence reduce the processing time of applications. Information - Standard Operating Procedures, Kindergarten Handbook and curriculum resources are available in K-Link. In conjunction with K-Link, Pre-School Link a one-stop information centre that inform Parents, Public and pre-school professionals on pre-school information is launched. Parents can now access to latest information affecting their 4 to 6 year olds in either kindergartens or childcare centres and search for pre-school centres in a geographical location. Pre-school professionals can search for available accredited training agencies to enrol in and upgrade their qualifications. Communication - K-Link allows kindergartens to give timely update to MOE on crisis situations, for example an outbreak of HFMD. Having an accurate picture of the situation facilitates appropriate planning of strategies and action plans to mitigate the situation by MOE. Training - Kindergartens can register teachers for MOE-organised training courses via K-Link and capture non MOE-organised courses attended to serve as a complete record of teachers’ professional development. This provides kindergarten leaders a good overview of their teachers’ professional development and help teachers effectively plan and track their training. Since MOE undertakes the regulatory role, serving accurate and up to date information is crucial to ensuring fair and unbiased service to the respective stakeholders. Key benefits of K-LINK includes:- a. Increased data accuracy in removing manual transfer of data from hardcopies to system b. Improved turnaround time in requesting for data from the kindergartens as kindergartens can provide the data via a common system c. Improved services to kindergartens in providing a system to support kindergarten in their administration and operations d. Readily available updated data enabled more efficient and effective monitoring by MOE of the kindergarten landscape and make better informed policies. e. Allowed MOE to identify children not attending preschool and implement outreach programmes to help these children to receive preschool education f. Provided a one-stop portal for Parents, Public and Pre-school Professionals on pre-school related information g. Enhanced collaboration between the government agencies (i.e. MOE and MCYS) h. Potential manpower savings of up to $50,000 per year with the removal of manual process

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
Pre School Education Branch (MOE) proposed the development of K-Link. The solution was implemented together with the IT Branch in MOE. MOE also worked with MCYS to implement the portal. The stakeholders are: a. MOE b. MCYS c. Kindergarten operators d. Pre-school teachers e. Parents f. General Public

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The main objective was to ensure that the data from the kindergarten was complete, accurate and timely to allow efficient and effective regulation of the sector by MOE and make better informed policies Learning from others - Learning visits to MCYS were organised to gather insights into the Childcare Link System (CCLS) that was implemented to support the other preschool cohort i.e. the childcare centres. The visit noted that MCYS processes are geared towards subsidy reimbursement and licensing of childcare centres while MOE plays more of a regulatory role to Kindergartens. MOE greatly benefited from the visit on learning how the initiative was implemented and by learning from MCYS experience in data collection and engaging childcare centres. The outcome of the visit also saw MOE engaged MCYS on the implementation of an integrated system, i.e. to serve as a one-stop portal for parents of the preschool cohort to search for Preschool Education related information. This is in line with the government’s iGov2010 vision to be an Integrated Government (iGov) that delights customers and connects citizens through the offer of both e-Services and m-Services. Hence, the Preschool Portal was setup together with MCYS.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The project implementation is presented in the table below: Project Milestones Completion Date Project & Funding Approval Jul 2007 to Dec 2007 Award Tender to Vendor Sep 2008 Design & Development of K-Link Sep 2009 to Aug 2010 Training of 495 Kindergartens Jul 2010 to Aug 2010 Roll Out to All Kindergartens Oct 2010 Official Launch (Preschool Portal)Nov 2010

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
Buy-In from the Kindergartens The difficulty encountered by MOE was on obtaining timely data update from the kindergartens which had impact on MOE regulatory role over the kindergartens. As there was no incentive for kindergartens to provide the data, they were not forthcoming in providing the data. MOE had to exhaust manpower to contact kindergartens when the submission datelines were not met. At times, datelines were extended but MOE still did not receive all complete returns. Also, the more established kindergartens would already have their own IT systems in place to support their operations. By requesting them to use MOE system, it would be duplicated effort on their end. How we overcome it? During the conceptualisation of the project, Focus Group Discussion sessions were conducted with representatives from the kindergartens. The objective is to obtain input from kindergartens on their ground issues and concerns in data submission to MOE. By understanding their needs, we hope to build a system to help them and in return help MOE. During the outbreak of SARS in 2009, MOE provided a website for kindergartens to submit updates on the outbreak at the respective centres in place of the updates sent via fax or email. This gave opportunities for kindergartens with no prior experience in the use of IT systems to use one and helped built their confidence level. Kindergartens were kept updated on the progress of the system during the kindergarten briefings by MOE for the kindergartens. Booths were setup at the events to showcase the system to the kindergartens. Hands-on training for the Kindergartens was also conducted. Positive feedback on the system was provided by the kindergartens. MOE also received prepositions from kindergartens to incorporate requirements of their current system into K-Link so that they would only need to use one system. These prepositions are currently being reviewed by MOE. MOE also shared with kindergartens during kindergarten briefings on how by providing timely updates to MOE thru K-LINK would help identify children not attending preschool and ensure timely execution of outreach effort to the affected children. In the recent data verification exercise which started on 23 Nov 2010, MOE saw that 60% of kindergartens have started to update their data in K-LINK. The current year’s outreach effort has shown that the percentage of children who are not attending pre-school has fallen to 1.2%, down from 5% four years ago. With K-LINK in place, MOE will potentially be able to further reduce the percentage through a more efficient identification process. Outreach effort and intervention can be optimised in a timelier manner.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The financial costs of $2.8million to develop the system was approved by the Ministry of Education and drawn upon from the Ministry’s budget. The manpower required to support this initiative was drawn from existing personnel from the Business Division and IT Branch.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
The initiative is crucial for MOE to perform the regulatory role in the kindergarten sector and make inform policies through the usage of data collected as the government continues to look into outreach effort in identifying children who are not attending preschool (especially those from low socio-economic status). Hence, it is sustainable in terms of financial, social and regulatory sustainability and will continue to be supported financially by MOE. MOE has also committed to set aside funding for the operation and maintenance of the initiative for the years to come. The initiative can potentially be extended to government bodies internationally who perform similar regulatory role in the preschool or specialised sectors with similar requirements to improve their delivery of public services and advancing knowledge management in government.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Stakeholder engagement is crucial to the success of this initiative. The intention of the initiative was to support MOE in our regulatory role. However, the team learnt that the focus should not solely be on what MOE want but also how MOE can help the kindergartens to achieve MOE’s objective. Focus Group Discussion was conducted during project conceptualisation, to obtain inputs from the kindergartens on their ground issues and concerns in data submission to MOE. However, kindergartens were not involved to provide requirements during the development of the project. During a regular meeting with major players in the kindergarten sector, MOE was informed that the update of the data to K-LINK will be performed centrally by the headquarters and not by the individual centres they own. This would be inline with the existing business operations of the players. With the centralisation of business operations to the headquarters, this would mean that the volume of data to be updated would be a lot higher as compared to that of an individual centre. Hence, MOE decided to add on functionalities to help ease the update of data for big players in the sector. With this, it would result in timely update of data from the sector. Subsequently, and up to now, MOE is still working with the kindergartens closely to look into areas to improve the system so as to improve their business operations. During the kindergarten briefings, major changes to the system will also be showcased to kindergartens as part of MOE’s continuous effort to raise awareness and promote the system to the kindergartens. The implementation K-Link plays an important role in allowing MOE to raise the quality of pre-school education in Singapore through developing policies, regulating and monitoring kindergartens, and setting standards for quality assurance in the sector. For the details, please refer to the following URLs: Kindergarten Link http://preschool.gov.sg/klink/klink/singpassrequest.action;jsessionid=3a157941d52a584bea75536b81c00:Xk66?usraction=request Preschool Portal http://preschool.gov.sg Kindergarten Briefings 23 November 2010 Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM, Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs at the Kindergarten Learning Forum on Tuesday, 23 November 2010, at 9.00 am at Republic Polytechnic http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2010/11/23/speech-by-mr-masagos-zulkifli-at-kindergarten-learning-forum.php 4 June 2010 MOE Launches Kindergarten-Link http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2010/06/moe-launches-kindergarten-link.php Speech by Ms Grace Fu, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Education, at the MOE Kindergarten Conference on Friday, 4 June 2010, at 9.00 am, at Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2010/06/04/moe-kindergarten-conference.php 24 November 2009 Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs, at the MOE Kindergarten Learning Forum on Thursday, 24 November 2009, at 9.00am at Republic Polytechnic http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/speeches/2009/11/24/moe-kindergarten-learning-forum.php


Institution Name:		Ministry of Education
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Teck Soon Lim
Title:		IT Director
Telephone/ Fax:		68796373
Institution's / Project's Website:		67750781
E-mail:		stephen_lau@moe.gov.sg
Address:		1 North Buona Vista Drive, MOE Building
Postal Code:		138675
City:
State/Province:
Country:		Singapore

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information