Certifications under Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK)

Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what percentage of preschools are currently certified under the Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK); (b) what percentage of kindergartens and childcare centres are certified under SPARK respectively; (c) what is the share of SPARK-certified centres from the five anchor operators; (d) what percentage of preschools operated by the anchor operators are SPARK-certified; and (e) whether the Ministry can provide an update on its effort to get centres tested under SPARK.

The Singapore Preschool Accreditation Framework (SPARK) was introduced in 2011 as a voluntary accreditation scheme to help raise the quality of our preschools. It also serves as a quality benchmark for parents when choosing a preschool for their child.

Today, one in six preschools are SPARK-certified. One in four kindergartens and one in seven childcare centres are certified.

Anchor operators are leading the sector in terms of having their centres SPARK-certified. Among existing anchor operator kindergartens and childcare centres, more than one-third are SPARK-certified. These centres make up two-thirds of all SPARK-certified preschools.

Going forward, ECDA will continue in its efforts to encourage more centres to be SPARK-certified. We have taken steps to make SPARK assessment more accessible to centre leaders and teachers.

First, a SPARK Information Pack has been developed and distributed to all centres to help centres understand SPARK better. Second, additional and targeted training for centres will be conducted on key quality areas assessed under SPARK.

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