Early Learning's Fun Preschool Reduces Staff Turnover and Boosts Retention Rates
- Written by Early Learning's Fun Preschool
Andy Teo and Staff from ELF Preschool
Early Learnings’s Fun Preschool [2](ELF) is a small and independently owned Preschool that was founded in 2009 by local optometrist[3] and entrepreneur, Andy Teo, and has since been engaging families and children in the upper Bukit Timah area with 60-70 students at any point in time. As a developmental optometrist, he conducts regular annual eye screenings for his students from 18 months to ensure that his students are able to see clearly.With reasons such as long working hours, a stressful working environment, lack of a work-life balance, high emotional demands and many others, it comes as no surprise that the turnover rate in the early childhood education sector in Singapore has been between 10 – 15 per cent over the last few years, in a workforce of about 23,000 people. From this, it is worth noting that while passion is essential and praiseworthy in such an industry, it is not enough to retain educators in this industry.
ELF Preschool instils a sense of family and togetherness in the workplace, the staff members are more inclined to support each other in various situations, such as aiding a colleague with their lesson planning, or taking over their class, if the colleague is absent due to various circumstances. This strong sense of bonding amongst colleagues has been a source of comfort, ensuring that everyone can take time off when needed, with the assurance that their colleagues will step in to provide support and maintain work-life balance.
In addition, ELF preschool has implemented two rounds of salary increments in the year 2022, once in June and another in December, providing an increment of 8% to 12% for the full year. ELF Preschool has adopted several government initiatives that have allowed the school to raise the reemployment age to 65 and offer part-time reemployment for senior staff. Furthermore, a host of schemes from Work Pro such as Time Banking and Flexi Place have been implemented to bring about a more stable work life balance to the staff and educators.
According to Mdm Chen, a Chinese preschool educator, "As an educator in our school, I appreciate the close attention our management pays to our needs and well-being. They actively communicate with us to ensure our happiness at work and have introduced several initiatives aimed at striking a balance between work and personal life, all while maintaining the smooth running of the school." The educators in ELF Preschool share a common sentiment and expressed their delight in witnessing the growth and progress of their toddlers to preschoolers and finally getting into primary school, further stating that they hope the children will adopt good values from their time at ELF Preschool.
Hashtag: #EarlyLearningsFun #ELFPreschool #AndyTeo #EarlychildhoodEducation
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References
- ^ Media OutReach (www.media-outreach.com)
- ^ Early Learnings’s Fun Preschool (www.elfpreschool.com.sg)
- ^ optometrist (visiontherapy.com.sg)
- ^ ELF Preschool (www.elfpreschool.com.sg)
Authors: Early Learning's Fun Preschool
Read more https://www.media-outreach.com/news/singapore/2023/04/27/216463/