CE International Awarded Grant to Lead Inclusive Education Practices Exchange in Singapore

On September 9, 2021, Childhood Education International will launch a 5-week online course for Singaporean early childhood education leaders and professionals that will introduce best practices in inclusive education from the United States and around the world. The U.S. Department of State is funding the professional development exchange program.

The course is designed to empower early education leaders in Singapore to address the challenge of incorporating inclusive education into their centers and schools in response to the Singapore government’s push for wider-scale implementation of the 2016 Compulsory Education Act. CE International will pull from the knowledge, experience, and lessons learned from the United States’ 45-year history of implementing inclusive education to deliver the course to early childhood leaders in Singapore.

The grant award marks a major milestone in CE International’s transition from an international association to an international development organization by being the first grant awarded during the new phase. The award is particularly meaningful as it combines two key tenets of CE International’s work; collective action across sectors and inclusive education.

The stated objective of the U.S. Department of State grant, the funding source for 5-week course, is to “support activities and exchanges linking the United States and Singapore with the aim of strengthening the bilateral relationship and people-to-people connections.” By uniting leaders in Singapore’s education field with representatives from CE International in the name of inclusive education practices, all participants actively contribute to a foundation of equitable opportunities for all learners in Singapore. The Association for Early Childhood Educators (Singapore) (AECES) also plays a key role as partners in identifying participants for the course.

Attendees, most of whom belong to AECES, a professional body dedicated to working with educators and other stakeholders to create an inclusive society in Singapore, will learn about topics including:

• Developing a Vision for Inclusion
• An Inclusive Society
• Working with Families
• Teaming and Collaboration
• Inclusive Leadership in Action

The course, titled Leading the Way for Inclusive Education in Early Childhood Settings, begins on September 9, 2021, and will continue through October 8, 2021.