Professional Development Programme for Educators
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR
EDUCATORS
[Applicable to participants embarking on PDP from 2024 onwards. For PDP 2023 participants and before, please click here for information on PDP(Infant and Early Years Educators) and PDP(Preschool Educators).]
Nominations for PDP(Educators) 2026 have been extended till 14 Nov 2025. Be nominated or nominate your educators via One@ECDA today!
PDP(Educators)* is a 3-year professional development programme with refreshed content specially curated to support infant/early years and preschool educators with potential for further development. It prepares our educators to take on larger job roles through:
- Deepening professional knowledge and skills to improve quality of teaching practices
- Gaining new knowledge and skills to work with children from a wider age range
A strong tripartite partnership between operators, infant/early years and preschool educators, and ECDA to support the professional development of these educators is key to the success of PDP(Educators).
*Previously known as PDP(Educarers) and PDP(Teachers)
The PDP Journey
Key Features
- Choose from a variety of professional development activities and complete them at own pace and language
- Receive annual cash awards after completion of programme and service milestones
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Eligibility Criteria
- Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident;
- Employed under a Non-Anchor Operator Early Childhood Development Centre (ECDC) registered or licensed with ECDA
- ECDA-certified
- EY1/EY2/L1 (for infant/early years educators)
- L2 (for preschool educators)
- Preferably 3 years of Early Childhood (EC) teaching experience (based on date of attainment of relevant qualification to date of PDP appointment in April)
- WSQ HCIC/WSQ ACEY/Higher Nitec/ACECCE (for infant/early years educators)
- DECCE-T or equivalent (for preschool educators)
- Meet the relevant skills and competencies required as described in the Skills Framework for Early Childhood for Infant Educator, Early Years Educator or Preschool Educator
- Nominee should possess one of these Occupational Titles in ONE@ECDA at point of nomination: Infant Educator, Senior Infant Educator, Early Years Educator, Senior Early Years Educator, Preschool Educator, Senior Preschool Educator
Operators are encouraged to prioritise good performing educators (e.g. top 10-20% based on appraised performance) for PDP.
Programme Structure
About the Compulsory Module
Infant/early years educators need to complete the compulsory module*, Observation and Planning for the Holistic Development of Infants and Toddlers (English and Chinese versions are available). It is a 2-full day course where educators will:
- Observe, understand and document the development, interests, needs and abilities of children from birth to 36 months.
- Be equipped with skills to adapt and monitor the effectiveness of the intentional experiences to cater to the specific needs of the individual children.
- Effectively plan for purposeful experiences to support children’s physical, cognitive, social and emotional development.
- Effectively collaborate with parents to support the young child’s development and learning.
Preschool educators need to complete the compulsory module, Shaping Practices for Diverse Learners (English and Chinese versions available). It is a 1-full day and 2-half day course where educators will:
- Observe and gather data on lesson design, classroom environment and interactions within the classroom for analysis
- Be equipped with skills on reflective processes for teaching & learning to meet the needs of children with different learning abilities through developmentally appropriate practices
- Be introduced to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its principles
About the CPD course
PDP(Educators) participants need to complete one CPD course tagged to Stage 1 TSCs for your role on an annual basis in Year 2 and 3 (i.e., 1 course in Year 2 and another in Year 3).
Please refer to the CPD Roadmap to identify the Stage 1 TSCs for each Occupational Title.
Please refer to the CPD Prospectus for CPD courses which are tagged to the Stage 1 TSCs for each Occupational Title.
About the Project
PDP(Educators) participants need to complete one project in Year 2 or 3.
The project options available are:
- Practitioner Inquiry (PI) Grant – provides participants the opportunity to pursue a project using an inquiry-based approach to explore curriculum innovation and improve their teaching practices. Look out for more details later.
- Centre-Initiated Project (CIP)* – provides participants the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills within the centre and classroom.
*Participants are required to complete the compulsory pre-requisite course Proposal Writing Skills for PDP Participants before embarking on the CIP.
About the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Activities
PDP(Educators) participants may complete other CPD activities to fulfill the remaining hours.
1. ECDA CPD Activities ECDA
CPD courses are courses or activities endorsed by ECDA aimed at raising the quality and professional experience of educators. Please refer to CPD Prospectus for
more information.
2. Non-ECDA CPD Activities
Non-ECDA CPD activities are courses, activities or training programmes conducted by professional institutions (such as NIEC and SUSS) or external providers. Some examples include first aid course,
local learning journeys, learning communities, seminars and conferences etc.
Participants may refer to the respective institute’s website for more information.
3. In-house CPD Activities (capped at 20 hours)
In-house CPD courses are training sessions organised by the participant’s
centre or organisation that contributes to the professional development of educators in performing their professional role. Participants can clock up to 20 hours of in-house CPD courses per PDP year.
Some examples include peer sharing,
learning journeys, learning festivals, mentoring sessions and other staff trainings etc.
Nominations for PDP(Educators) 2026 are open from now until 24 October 2025. Be nominated or nominate your educators via One@ECDA today!
PDP(Educators) participants are nominated by their operators/supervisors through ONE@ECDA yearly. All operators/supervisors interested in nominating their infant/early years or preschool educators may refer to the following guides.
PDP Nomination Guide - Centre Admin and HQ Admin
For organisations with HQ structure, HQ will have to review all nominations submitted by their centres.
For enquiries, please contact us at ecda_pp@ecda.gov.sg.