Dr Khoo Kim Choo (NUS Social Work, ‘70) has made significant contributions to the early childhood education sector in Singapore. Her achievements include the establishment of systems to train early childhood educators and authoring books to encourage local writers to create content for children. She also published several professional and academic articles related to children as well . She was very active on various Boards and Committees including as Advisor to the Preschool Qualification Accreditation Committee (PQAC) of the Ministry of Education and the then Ministry of Community Development and Sports. She received the Public Service Award (PBM) in 2007.

Beyond Singapore, Dr Khoo, a specialist volunteer with the Singapore International Foundation, led a team to train trainers in Vietnam and Myanmar over several years. She was also consultant to World Bank, UNICEF, UNESCO in various countries including, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Mongolia and Romania – all related to early childhood development and education.

These accomplishments led to her induction into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame (SWHF) (by the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations, SCWO) this year, and the admiration of her peers as well as the next generation of community leaders. “Congratulations, Dr Khoo for being admitted into the Singapore Women’s Hall of Fame and thank you for your service to our community and nation,” said SCWO President Ms Junie Foo at the induction ceremony, who held Dr Khoo and the other SWHF 2023 inductees up as role models for the next generation of women community and industry leaders to emulate.

We caught up with Dr Khoo recently to ask her about how she came to pursue a career in early childhood education and if she has any advice for others considering following in her footsteps.

Origins and Aspirations

What motivated Dr Khoo to enter the early childhood sector? As a young girl growing up in Penang, Malaysia, she was inspired by stories, particularly, the image of Florence Nightingale carrying a lamp watching over many wounded soldiers and wanted to become a nurse. However, family pressures prevented her from doing so as Dr Khoo’s father was strongly against her doing ‘dirty work’. Instead, he advised Dr Khoo that becoming a teacher is better for a girl. This was also reinforced by the societal norm at the time where only men went on to university. Left with limited options, Dr Khoo went on to study at the Teacher’s Training College in Kuala Lumpur.

However, before the course started, Dr Khoo found out that Singapore University (now the National University of Singapore) had recently launched a degree programme in social work. She quickly realised that this was exactly the course of study that could enable her to do the work she was passionate about – helping others. Without wasting any time, she hopped onto a night train to Singapore and embarked on her pursuit of a career in social work.

Finding Purpose

Upon graduation, she applied to be a social worker with the Social Welfare Department. She was shocked when she was sent to head a creche (childcare centre) instead. After almost a year, she was eventually transferred to work with delinquent girls and girls in moral danger and their families. This was where Dr Khoo was disillusioned as girls discharged from the Welfare Homes would often return for rehabilitation. Feeling that a much earlier intervention was critical, she went back to school and obtained a Master's degree and a PhD from the University of Washington, USA. In the course of her post-graduate work, Dr Khoo focused on resilience and working with multi-cultural children and families.

Making a Difference

Armed with new knowledge and insights, Dr Khoo returned to Singapore and was invited to join  NTUC Childcare as a child development specialist to ‘train, train, train’. According to Dr Khoo, her entry to NTUC Childcare was a case of her being in the right place at the right time, because at the time the Bernard van Leer Foundation was looking to fund projects for disadvantaged children.  Dr Khoo jumped on the opportunity and secured the support necessary for her three major projects.

The first project aimed to train NTUC childcare principals and teachers as childcare training was not available then. The project resulted in the Fundamental Course and the Intermediate Course in Early Childhood. The second project focused on parent and community engagement.

Dr Khoo's third and most impactful project was the establishment of the Regional Training and Resource Centre for Early Childhood Care and Education for Asia (RTRC Asia). Originally, RTRC Asia’s role was to be the focal point to support van Leer projects in Asia. The focus was on tapping one another’s expertise through conference themes of common interest, workshops on needed skills, and, learning journeys to each other’s programme.

Dr Khoo at a conference alongside the group leaders of the Bernard van Leer projects in Asia

Dr Khoo felt it was essential  to level up the profession for children to benefit more from preschool education. She used a training of trainers strategy to raise the level of teacher qualification from a certificate to a diploma level. She initiated a Masters in Early Childhood Education with Dr Joan Bergstrom of Wheelock College, Boston, USA. At the end of the Master’s Programme, graduates were selected and trained to implement the Diploma in Early Childhood Education, awarded by Wheelock College. Although not a requirement then, teachers were eager to improve their knowledge and skills and many signed up for the Diploma course under the RTRC Asia.

A commencement ceremony for the graduating classes of the Masters and Diploma programme attended by Dr Jackie Kenkins-Scott, then President of Wheelock College, Dr Joan Bergstrum and Dr Khoo

Dr Khoo was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Education by Wheelock College which also set up the Khoo Kim Choo scholarship for leadership in Wheelock College .

Dr Khoo also had to foresight to understand that RTRC was limited in its capacity to train, but a polytechnic was different and would have the capacity to train more teachers more quickly. She approached the Principal of the Ngee Ann Polytechnic for a joint programme, leading to the formulation of the Diploma in Early Childhood Education course. The intention was for Ngee Ann Polytechnic to take over the programme completely which they did and was the first Polytechnic to offer the a course in Early Childhood Education.

Know Yourself, Be Yourself

As a practitioner herself, Dr Khoo understands what skills are necessary today for those in her profession to be effective. “Social workers need to have strong intrapersonal awareness and interpersonal intelligence,” says Dr Khoo. “With these skills, you will be very effective in helping our community – one that is now going through so much stress, volatility and upheaval.”

For those concerned about their path ahead, Dr Khoo shares that the most important step to take is to know yourself. “Find your hobbies and passions. Do something that you believe in and enjoy doing,” says Dr Khoo. “Give yourself opportunities to experience different things and know that nothing is ever wasted. Everything is a learning experience. Even the rough patches in life are replete with highly valuable lessons. Have a positive mindset and instead of focusing on all the problems and things not going your way, be grateful for all the things that’s going right, that’s there for you that we often take for granted.”

*Dr Khoo is the Founder-Director of Preschool for Multiple Intelligences.