KK to host International Early Childhood Conference

KOTA KINABALU: The International Early Childhood Conference (IECC) will be at The Klagan Hotel, Warisan Square here on August 28-29.

It is a joint effort between Persatuan Tadika Sabah (PTS), Sabah Chinese Kindergarten Boards Association (SCKBA) and Persatuan Perkhidmatan TASKA Sabah (PPTS).

“Teachers are our greatest asset for inspiring change for future generations as well as ensuring quality practices in early childhood centers. With the recent announcement by the Ministry of Education on benchmarking teacher qualification to be that of a diploma graduate, we feel that we must create an environment of learning and upgrading knowledge and skill amongst teachers.

“Therefore, organizing a conference that focuses on early childhood education will help promote this industry to a more professional level especially in Sabah,” said organizing chairlady, Datin Rahimah Quadra, in a statement here yesterday.

Rahimah said this conference was aimed at upgrading the quality and profession of Early Childhood Care and Education in Sabah by investing into the minds and practices of teachers and childcare providers in Sabah. “We hope this conference will bring exposure and fresh insights into the best practices to teaching and learning.

“Participants also have an opportunity to network and connect with the wider early childhood community both locally and worldwide.

“For IECC 2017 we are privileged to have three key note speakers, namely Nathalie Nehma from Australia, Charmaine Teo from Singapore and Melody Stuckey from New Zealand,” she said.

Other invited speakers for parallel sessions are from Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, and China.

Rahimah added, “Our main reason for hosting this conference in Kota Kinabalu is that kindergartens and childcare providers in Sabah will have the opportunity to be exposed to and gain fresh insights into teaching preschool children.”

“We hope that we will be able to organize this conference every two years in future.”

Conference fees are RM250 per person. However, IECC has decided to extend the due date for early bird fee of RM200 per person till the end of June 2017.

For those interested to register or find out more, you may send an email to ieccsabah@gmail. com or call 088-244071.

The organising committee of International Early Childhood Conference: Front row (left to right) - Chu Kong Ming (treasurer), Datin Rahimah Quadra (organising chairlady), Sonia Chin (secretary). Committee members: Back row (left to right) - Louis Yong, Helen Laurentius, Creena Alison Wong, Jellsie Fung, Irene Ambrose and Lim Chin Tong.