An Early Childhood Education and Care Centre in Penang

Kepala Batas included in Project

Kepala Batas in Penang will be the fifth location for the government’s pilot project on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC).

Deputy Prime Minister’s wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor said Kepala Batas had been identified to join the other locations - Subang Jaya and Putra Jaya in Selangor and Mempaga and Chini in Pahang where ECEC centres would be set up.

“We are in the midst of planning ECEC's implementation and hopefully the centres
can operate by February next year,'' she said in her speech at the closing of
the First National Early Childhood Intervention Conference at Copthorne Hotel,
here.

The conference was themed ‘Parents, Practitioners and Policy Makers in Positive Partnership.’
Rosmah said to facilitate implementation of the programme, ECEC committee would work closely with agencies such as FELDA, the Penang Regional Development Authority, the local municipal councils and Perbadanan Putra Jaya.

She said ECEC programme would also consider including disabled children in the
future. On Oct 31, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was
reported to have said that the pilot project to enhance young children’s skills
and mental development would be launched next year with a RM20mil government
allocation.

He had also said the Cabinet had approved ECEC that stimulates the creativity, imagination and interests of children up to six years old.

The three-day conference was jointly organised by a nationwide coalition of 22 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), ended yesterday.

Some 355 delegates, including 30 local speakers and nine from Australia, United Kingdom and Singapore, attended the conference.

A total of 45 papers were presented and a Memorandum on Early Childhood Intervention setting out objectives and future directions for early childhood services in Malaysia was presented to Rosmah.

News Source : STAR

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