I APPLAUD the proposal to bring together small- and mid-sized childcare operators under the partner operator scheme ("More pre-schools with lower fees in the pipeline"; last Saturday).
Though some fragmentation in the pre-school sector is necessary for differentiation, it makes sense for operators to consolidate and share resources, instead of duplicating one another's efforts.
The scheme can go further. For instance, the Ministry of Social and Family Development could consider imposing some form of a Creative Commons scheme.
Operators receiving government support would be required to contribute their course materials to a common pool, which can be used by other operators under the scheme.
The contributing operators retain the rights to their materials, so they can create new versions, print copies for commercial release, or stop people outside the scheme from using the materials.
They can also be rewarded when they contribute more materials.
Meanwhile, other operators who avail themselves of these materials will have to attribute copyright to the contributors.
Tan Suan Tiu
Though some fragmentation in the pre-school sector is necessary for differentiation, it makes sense for operators to consolidate and share resources, instead of duplicating one another's efforts.
The scheme can go further. For instance, the Ministry of Social and Family Development could consider imposing some form of a Creative Commons scheme.
Operators receiving government support would be required to contribute their course materials to a common pool, which can be used by other operators under the scheme.
The contributing operators retain the rights to their materials, so they can create new versions, print copies for commercial release, or stop people outside the scheme from using the materials.
They can also be rewarded when they contribute more materials.
Meanwhile, other operators who avail themselves of these materials will have to attribute copyright to the contributors.
Tan Suan Tiu
