Pre-schoolers paint to advocate for early childhood education

The voices of pre-school children in Singapore will be heard in the form of a big picture come Saturday, 21^st April. Children and their families have been invited to the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall on Saturday morning to add drawings of their childhood memories to the exhibition.

The event, called ‘The Big Picture’, is part of Global Action Week, a worldwide annual campaign to raise awareness of the importance of education for all. The drawings produced by children will be on display at the museum until the end of May. Over a hundred pieces of artwork have already been submitted by students from over ten preschools in Singapore.

Once the exhibition concludes, the drawings will be collated globally and presented to world leaders with calls for them to prioritise Early Childhood Care and Education.

“The increase in the number of children receiving preschool education in Singapore over the last few decades has been tremendous,” said Dr Christine Chen, Founder and President of the Association for Early Childhood Educators (AECES) in Singapore. “98% of children here now attend preschool. This is quite an achievement and our challenge now is to ensure that children in preschools engage in meaningful and enriching experiences." 

This year’s Global Action Week will focus on improving the quality of comprehensive early childhood care and education. One of the ways to improve that quality is through play activities which offer meaningful experiences.

Through play activities, children can explore and learn more about their surroundings, interact with others, and learn how to cope with different emotions. 

The Big Picture event will demonstrate how children and their families can engage in meaningful and enriching activities, which enhance all areas of development and create a sense of total well-being for all involved.  

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors:

The event was jointly organised by several local and international NGOs, including the Association for Early Childhood Educators (AECES), Playeum, SEED Institute, Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) and Save the Children.