The Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) for Pre-School Teachers in Singapore has seen a 40% increase in mid-career entrants, reaching almost 400 trainees last year. This comes amid growing manpower needs in the pre-school sector, which currently has about 16,000 educators and needs 4,000 more by 2020 to meet the rising demand for childcare services. The annual training capacity for the PCP is 450, and it lasts eight to 18 months and operates on a place-and-train basis.

Singapore's Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo revealed that enrolment in the programme has been steadily rising, likely due to greater awareness of career opportunities and improved career prospects in the pre-school sector. The government's funding support is also quite generous, with participants' employers receiving funding to cover 70% of their monthly pay, capped at $4,000.

The funding support increases to 90% of the pay, capped at $6,000, for Singaporean participants aged 40 and above, or who have...