KLCII Beijing Normal University mark 20 Years of EC teacher training collaboration

KLCII International Institute (KLCII), which has a short history of nearly 30 years in adult education, recently commemorated its giant feat in the international arena – it’s 20-year collaboration with Beijing Normal University (BNU), a partner that is 102 years old.

The partnership is the first collaboration of its kind to be endorsed by China’s Ministry of Education. Together, the partners have  helped to train more than 1,000 diploma and degree graduates in Singapore and the region, the largest EC programme alumni outside China.

And what better way to celebrate the fruitful partnership than in the presence of a record turnout of early childhood (EC) carers and educators, including many of KLCII alumni, at the 5th International Chinese Early Childhood Conference held at the Lifelong Learning Institute on 26 November 2016. The conference is a successful effort by KLCII to continually promote excellence in the training of Chinese EC teachers.

Representing BNU at the ceremony was Vice Dean of the Faculty of Education at BNU, Associate Professor Li Jiayong, who lauded the partnership between the two institutions and their efforts to promote higher quality Chinese EC teaching standards in Singapore and the region.

The former Head of Early Childhood Education Department in BNU, Professor Zhu Shi Yuan, who initiated the KLCII and BNU collaboration graced the occasion and reminisced about her role at KLCII and how it has since propelled itself to the forefront of the EC education and training in Singapore. Prof Zhu is today the Adviser to KLCII.

Other distinguished guests who participated in the ceremony were Prof Bao Huaying，School of Continuing Education and Teacher Training, Beijing Normal University, representatives from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, as well as the key management members of KLCII and its parent company Crestar Education Group.

Administered by China’s Ministry of Education, BNU is a renowned institution of higher education well-recognised for teacher education, education science and basic learning in both the arts and the sciences.

KLCII had began collaborating with BNU in 1995, when there was no professional course for Chinese EC teacher training in Singapore at that time. It was the first partnership by a university in China with another institution outside the country, a status which has remained unchanged until today.

Together, the partners launched the first Chinese Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in 1995, and subsequently the BNU Bachelor of Art degree in EC Education (Chinese) in 2003.

The BA in EC Education (Chinese) is still the first and only programme of its kind outside China. And until today lecturers from BNU continue to support and teach the degree course at KLCII.

With the support of BNU’s expertise, resources and experience, KLCII has emerged to become an acknowledged leader in the field of Chinese preschool teacher training  in Singapore and the region.  Today, KLCII offers 15 EC courses and programmes from certificate to degree level.