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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Managing Early Childhood Care And Education: A Comparison of Government and Private Childcare Centres in Malaysia

Suriani Abdul Hamid, Marinah Awang, Suzyanty Mohd Shokory, Jamilah Omar, Mazlina Che Mustafa

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v10-i11/8058

Open access

Qualified and competent educators in early childhood centres will help to produce better quality early childhood care and education. The Malaysian government places a strong emphasis in this area for both government and private childcare centres This paper aims to understand and compare the workforce and management of early childhood care and education centres in Malaysia. A quantitative research was conducted for this study. A sample of 3,519 respondents consisting of operators, supervisors, principals, childcare providers and teachers were involved in this study using a purposive proportionate random sampling. The sample was stratified by zone i.e. northern, southern, central, east coast and west coast of peninsular Malaysia as well as East-Malaysia. The findings of the study indicated that the workforce in the government childcare centre had more staff with educational and professional qualification as well as experience. The study also found significant differences in the management of the private and government centres. This present study would benefit policymakers and the relevant authorities related to early childhood education by allowing an insight into the workforce and practices in the government and private ECCE in Malaysia.