KLCII’s BNU EC graduates officially accepted by the University in Beijing

All 637 diploma and degree graduates of Beijing Normal University (BNU) who completed their studies with KLC International Institute (KLCII) in Singapore since 1995 have been officially registered with the University’s Faculty of Education Alumni in Beijing.

Among the 125-year-old university’s alumni is Professor Pang Lijuan, Doctoral Tutor with the Faculty of Education at BNU, who is also President of the Chinese National Committee of World Organization of Early Childhood Education and a Member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. Another well known alumnus is Professor Feng Xiao Xia, Early Childhood Education at the Faculty of Education, BNU, and Chairperson of the China National Society of Early Childhood Education, who is currently lecturing at KLCII.

The two professors had taught BNU programmes at KLCII.

This is the first time overseas graduates of BNU’s early childhood programmes have been accepted as alumni of the University in Beijing. It marks another important milestone in the successful collaboration between KLCII and BNU. The alumni’s recognition comes not long after the two organisations commemorated their 20-year partnership at the end of 2016 in Singapore. The anniversary event was attended by Professor Li Jiayong, Vice Dean of International Exchange at BNU and Professor Bao Huaying, Executive Dean of School of Continuing Education & Teacher Training and Director at BNU.

The Faculty of Education Alumni Section of the BNU Alumni Association was formed in 2016. Dr Chen Shi, KLCII Vice Principal who is a BNU alumni herself, became the first foreign institute representative to be elected into the section’s committee in 2017. She officially lodged the BNU-KLCII graduates list at the Section’s Third Committee Meeting in Beijing in the same year.

KLCII is BNU’s the first overseas collaboration outside China for early childhood (EC) teacher training and to date, it is still the only one approved by China’s Ministry of Education.

KLCII’s partnership with BNU began in May 1995, when it launched the first of its kind joint KLC-BNU Diploma in Chinese Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) to meet the demand from local Chinese preschool teachers seeking further advancement for their professional development.

The relationship was further cemented in 2002 when KLCII signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BNU to offer what was to be the first Chinese Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education in Singapore.

The first degree cohort commenced in 2004 with 32 students. 80 per cent of the modules were taught by BNU lecturers, with the remaining by local lecturers endorsed by the University. Since then, 131 students from five batches have graduated with the degree, and many of them are contributing significantly to Chinese EC education in Singapore.

Among some of the outstanding local KLCII-BNU graduates are Tan Poh Hua, who is currently Executive Principal at PAP Community Foundation (PCF); Zhao Beiyan, Head of Chinese Curriculum at Etonhouse Kindergarten; and Sun Ying, Chinese Curriculum Head at St James Kindergarten, to name a few.