Bachelor of Early Childhood Education

Bachelor's Degree Programme
(Full-time)

Equip students for entry into the Singapore early childhood education profession as certified teachers for kindergartens and child care centres.

Bachelor of Early Childhood Education

Applications Open: 19 November 2024

Applications Close: 19 March 2025

Next Available Intake: July 2025

Programme Type: Full-time Undergraduate

Fees: View More Details on Fees

Area of Interest: Adult Learning

School/Department: S R Nathan School of Human Development

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Early Childhood Education is an in-demand multi-disciplinary career around the world as governments are now paying greater attention to the healthy growth and development of young children. Recent research has shown that when governments invest more in the lives of young children, especially those in poverty and neglect, the investment can result in a healthier, more educated and employable adult population. As such, early childhood education has become an emerging and exciting field that can lead to real improvements for any society.

The Bachelor of Early Childhood Education is a four-year direct honours teacher preparation programme. It aims to equip students for entry into the Singapore early childhood education profession as certified teachers for kindergartens and child care centres. The programme is also designed with a future and global outlook to produce graduates who are poised to contribute towards improving the lives of young children and their families across traditionally separate disciplines such as social services and public education (e.g., museums, healthcare).

Working with young children (infants through age 6) in centre-based care is a physically demanding profession. Candidates would need to meet ECDA's medical requirements for pre-school teachers upon admission into the programme as students in this programme are required to spend more than 1000 hours in direct contact with young children in child care centres and kindergartens during the course of their study from Year 1 onward.

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The Full-time Bachelor of Early Childhood Education programme is open to all applicants regardless of whether they have any prior early childhood diploma qualification.

Refer to general admission criteria for full-time undergraduate programmes.

Besides meeting the course requirements, applicants must rank Early Childhood Education within the first and second choice to be considered for shortlisting for interview. There will be additional admission criteria to better target students who are aligned to the educational philosophy of our full-time programmes. This will be done through interviews and selection tests.

Applicants with a prior 3-year full-time polytechnic early childhood diploma qualification with CGPA 3.5 and above could qualify for a 3-year track. See Programme Structure below for details.

Applicants who have taken IELTS (Academic) should submit their result as part of their application. Test scores must be obtained within the last 2 years at point of admission. All results must be submitted to SUSS by 31 May of the admission year.

Medical Requirements
Applicants who are offered a place in SUSS's full-time Bachelor of Early Childhood Education programme would need to be certified medically fit for study and to work with children by a certified medical doctor according to ECDA's medical requirements for pre-school teachers.

There are various types of financial aid (e.g., study grants) available to students. Please click here for more details.

The following study grant is open to full-time Bachelor of Early Childhood Education students:

Kewalram Chanrai Group Study Grants

In addition to the financial aid schemes, there are scholarships which are open to full-time Bachelor of Early Childhood Education students. For example:

Mohamed Abdul Jaleel Scholarships (open to all full-time undergrads)
Kewalram Chanrai Group Scholarships (full-time female undergrads)
PCF Sparkletots@Telok Blangah 44 Scholarship (for final year 3 and year 4 full-time ECE students)
Goh Leng Tse and Anthony Teo Scholarship (for year 2 full-time undergrads)
Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) Training Award (University) [TA(Uni)]. Annual applications are made directly to ECDA. Please refer to ECDA website for more details.

Visit SUSS Scholarships page for more information: https://www.suss.edu.sg/full-time-undergraduate/admissions/suss-scholarships-awards#Scholarships

For Jul23 intake onwards:

To graduate, students are required to complete a total of 200 credit units (cu), inclusive of 60 cu of SUSS Core courses which are designed to hone students' conceptual and writing abilities along with their communication skills.

The breakdown of the cu to be completed is:

60 cu of SUSS Core courses
75 cu of Major Compulsory courses
15 cu of Major Elective courses
50 cu of Free Electives and/or Minor

*3-year track students are exempted from ECE200 and ECE105, as well as up to 10 cu of Free Electives.

In addition, they are required to complete up to 12 months of supervised field education (including Work Attachment), an overseas experience and a community engagement. Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) aims to produce graduates who are professionally competent, social-minded, self-directed learners who are versatile enough to work with both young children and adults.

	4 Year Track	3 Year Track
Applicable for	Applicants with non-ECE background from: A Levels IB Diploma NUS High Polytechnic Diploma (non-ECE) OR Applicants with an ECE Polytechnic Diploma who do not meet the requirements for the 3 Year Track.	Applicants with a 3 Year full-time ECE diploma from: Temasek Polytechnic: Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education (formerly known as Diploma in Early Childhood Studies) Ngee Ann Polytechnic: Diploma in Early Childhood Education Diploma in Child Psychology and Early Education Diploma in Chinese Studies (Early Childhood Teaching Track) Diploma in Tamil Studies with Education National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC) AND Have achieved CGPA of 3.50 and above AND At least B4 grade for GCE 'O'Level English OR IELTS (Academic) Band 6.5 and above. *CET ECE Diploma not applicable.
Exempted from	View relevant exemptions here: https://www.suss.edu.sg/full-time-undergraduate/admissions/pre-qualifications/credit-waivers-credit-recognitions	Exempted from: NCO201 NCO103 NCO205 ECE105 ECE200 up to 10 cu of Free Electives
Work Attachment	12 weeks of Work Attachment *ECDA L2-certified ECE Diploma holders are exempted from Work Attachment	Exempted from Work Attachment

4 Year Track

3 Year Track

Applicable for

Applicants with non-ECE background from:

A Levels
IB Diploma
NUS High
Polytechnic Diploma (non-ECE)

Applicants with an ECE Polytechnic Diploma who do not meet the requirements for the 3 Year Track.

Applicants with a 3 Year full-time ECE diploma from:

Temasek Polytechnic:

Diploma in Early Childhood Development & Education (formerly known as Diploma in Early Childhood Studies)

Ngee Ann Polytechnic:

Diploma in Early Childhood Education
Diploma in Child Psychology and Early Education
Diploma in Chinese Studies (Early Childhood Teaching Track)
Diploma in Tamil Studies with Education

National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC)

AND

Have achieved CGPA of 3.50 and above

AND

At least B4 grade for GCE 'O'Level English OR IELTS (Academic) Band 6.5 and above.
*CET ECE Diploma not applicable.

Exempted from

View relevant exemptions here:

https://www.suss.edu.sg/full-time-undergraduate/admissions/pre-qualifications/credit-waivers-credit-recognitions

Exempted from:

NCO201
NCO103
NCO205
ECE105
ECE200
up to 10 cu of Free Electives

Work Attachment

12 weeks of Work Attachment
*ECDA L2-certified ECE Diploma holders are exempted from Work Attachment

Exempted from Work Attachment

DOWNLOAD CURRICULUM PLAN

Module Types
SUSS CORE COMPULSORY	NCO101 Living with Community NCO102 Effective Writing NCO103 Listen and Be Heard: Effective Communication through Storytelling NCO201 Learn to Learn, Learn for Life NCO203 Critical Thinking and Problem Solving NCO205 User-Centred Design: Human Factors and Design Thinking NIE201 Interdisciplinary Processes for a Better World NIE301 Learning with Communities NIE351 Interdisciplinary Global Learning	45 cu
SUSS CORE ELECTIVES (CAPACITIES)	NCO211 Data Interpretation and Social Analytics NCO212 The ‘Smart City’ and Society	5 cu
SUSS CORE ELECTIVES (ENGAGEMENT)	NIE352 Interdisciplinary Problem-Solving	5 cu
SUSS CORE ELECTIVES (PEOPLE)	NCO111 Work and Learning in a Changing World NCO112 Peak Performance NCO113 Teamwork in the Modern Workplace	5 cu
COMPULSORY	ECE100 Children, Care and Education: Issues and Contexts ECE102 Children as Thinkers and Meaning Makers ECE105 Supporting Children’s Well-Being and Joyful Learning ECE200 Supporting Sensory and Motor Development ECE208 Assessing and Documenting Learning ECE212 Communication and Emergent Literacy in Play-Based Curricula ECE300 Scientific Enquiry and Social Studies in an Integrated Curriculum ECE302 Children’s Social and Emotional Learning ECE304 Supporting Diverse Learners ECE314 Facilitating Children’s Mathematical Thinking ECE316 Practitioner Enquiry and Learning ECE490 Teaching Practice ECE499 Early Childhood Education Applied Project	75 cu
ELECTIVE	ECE210 Advocacy and Collaborations with Families ECE262 Perspectives on Child Study ECE306 Early Childhood Research Methods ECE308 Art, Imagination and Meaning Making ECE310 Birth to Three Responsive Curriculum ECE360 Case-Based Child Study and Intervention ECE362 Teacher Leadership ECE364 Curriculum Planning with Children’s Books ECE366 Comparing Curricular Approaches and Models ECE368 Childhood: Global Perspectives ECE370 Introduction to Edible Education for Children ECE372 Musicking, Moving and Storying with Young Children ECE374 Early Years Technology ECE376 Incorporating Engineering Experiences in Early Childhood Curricula	15 cu
FREE ELECTIVE	GSP100 General/Free Electives	50 cu (Students can use 30 cu to take a minor.)

The programme aims to equip students for entry into the Singapore early childhood education profession as certified teachers for kindergartens and child care centres.

Find out more about the role of an early childhood educator here. For more information on careers in the early childhood education sector, contact the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) here.

To be a teacher or educarer in pre-school centres in Singapore, students must register with ECDA. Please find more details on the category of teacher here.

The programme is designed with a future and global outlook to produce graduates who are poised to contribute towards improving the lives of young children and their families across traditionally separate disciplines such as social services and public education (e.g., museums, healthcare).