Competency Level of Operators for Private Early Childhood Care and Education in Malaysia

Abstract

This study aims to determine the level of competency of operators for private early childhood care and education (ECCE) across Malaysia, towards the development of carer-educator professional framework. The levels of competency included in this study are disposition, knowledge, skills and practices. In this study, quantitative research was conducted and 551 operators were randomly selected from various private ECCE across Malaysia. The ECCE includes children nursery (TASKA) and children preschool (TADIKA). Descriptive and inferential statistics based on one single t-test were applied to the survey data collected in order to answer the research objectives. In general, the study shows that all private ECCE operators have high level of competency in terms of disposition, knowledge, skills and practices except for operators of TASKA and operators that manage both TASKA and TADIKA. This study is important as early childhood education such as TASKA and TADIKA are the places where the foundation of a child’s development and the first formal education for children begins. Future research will investigate the relationship between the level of competency and years of service and Early Childhood Care Education (ECCE) professional qualification of the operators.