An Comparative Study on the Early-Childhood Education in Southeast Asian Countries -Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore

本研究试图厘清泰国、马来西亚、新加坡三国幼儿教育的差异。本研究的主要目的是发现以下问题：1。研究幼儿教育的法律法规和认证制度。明确幼儿教育阶段的学前教师培训和资格认定方案。观察正在进行的学前教育计划或项目，以发展各年龄段儿童的潜能。获得在那里实际使用的教科书和材料。为了获得上述信息、数据和资料，我们的成员走访了幼儿园、托儿中心和相关机构，并采访了他们的工作人员。在泰国，以佛教哲学、国家问题（如王国、国旗、国家历史等）和乡村文化为基础的道德教育一直受到重视。然而，教育部最近允许一些伊斯兰教机构在南半岛教授他们的宗教主题和价值观。在被称为“多元社会”的马来西亚，我们可以发现城市和农村，公共和私营部门的幼儿教育存在巨大差异。在城市地区，私营公司试图为不同民族的孩子介绍独特的活动，以了解每个民族的文化和价值观。相反，伊斯兰和/或马来机构作为农村地区的主导群体，试图促进他们的宗教问题。在新加坡，作为执政党的人民行动党（PAP）在全国范围内扩大了自己的幼儿园。约八成学童穿着印有PAP标志的校服，透过资讯科技设备到学校学习英语、民族语言及科学科目。PAP机构管理高度集中的幼儿园，开发“综合项目”作为有效的教学方法，使孩子具备双语能力。

This study tries to make clear the differences in the early-childhood education among three countries, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Major objects of this study are to find the following issues.1. To study the laws, regulations and accreditation system on early-childhood education.2. To clarify the pre-school teacher training and qualification scheme on the stage of early childhood education.3. To observe on-going pre-school programmes or projects to develop children's potential at each age.4. To obtain the textbooks and materials to be actually used there.In order to get the above information, data and materials, our members had visited kindergartens, child care centers and the related agencies, and to interview their staffs.In Thailand, moral education based on Buddhism philosophy, national issues (ex. Kingdom, national flag and national history, etc.) and rural cultures has been emphasized until now. However, the Ministry of Education recently permits some Islamic institutions in south peninsula to teach their religious subject and values.In Malaysia as known "plural society", we could find huge differences in early-childhood education between urban and rural area, or public and private sector. In urban area, private companies try to introduce vary ethnic children to unique activities for understanding each culture and values. In the contrary, Islamic and/or Malay agencies as dominant group in rural area have tried to promote their religious issues.In Singapore, the People's Action Party( PAP) as ruling party has expanded their own kindergartens in nation-wide. About 80% of children wearing uniforms with the PAP symbol attend their facilities to learn English, their ethnic language and Scientific subjects using IT equipments. PAP agency manages highly centralized kindergartens and develop "integrated programe" as effective teaching method to equip bilingual abilities with their children.