Working in EC sector…

Just wanted to share the reality of working in the EC sector, whereby parents probably don’t often see and sincerely hoping that parents out there be more understanding and patient towards their kid’s Teachers because we’re trying

Not only that it’s physically tiring (having to take care of kid’s well-being, ensuring that they are learning & growing up well) to be in this industry, it’s also mentally tiring when the workplace vibes is just not right…

Colleagues easily taking leaves & last minute mc’s (just bcos they feel like taking mc)… Yes you would say it’s their entitlement to take yet because the leave taking rules are not strictly enforced by boss, it always causes a spiral effect towards the whole centre deployment as we constantly face the issue of lack of manpower, leading to the need of staff coverage for other classes and Teachers working OT very frequently. I believe this applies to many centre as well.

Adding on to my point of coverage , it also means that majority of the time, teachers are left alone to oversee 1 class by themselves, with no help given and not meeting the teacher-student ratio that was set out by company / ECDA.

Apart from teaching, we spend lots of time off from work to work on children’s portfolio because it’s impossible to complete them during working hours with our eyes constantly on the kids. To top it off, redundant paperwork that we have to work on which is purely for filing bcos most of the time higher ups don’t bother checking??

We as educators not only teach children but also ensure children’s needs and safety are met. Administering first aid, making milk and washing milk bottles for younger kids, wiping & bending each time to lay and keep tons of cots to prepare for kid’s nap, and to little things like ensuring children are patched/sprayed with mosquito repellent cos parents expect teachers to ensure that children don’t get bitten by mozzies…

Yep, the above mentioned is the reality of what’s happening in the early childhood sector (at least for me). While we can’t change the dynamic of workplace if boss/higher ups don’t do anything, I hope for the least that parents be more understanding towards Teachers because no matter how much passion an educator have for children, just 1 nasty encounter with unreasonable and self entitled parent is enough to break that burning passion and causes more educators to leave the already short-handed industry.

Lastly. I also wish that there are more support system put in place for staff because if parents can complain to higher ups/ECDA, who can we go to/what can be done if educators are abused by parents?