17 February 2020

The National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and the Singapore Management University have said that their open houses and career fairs this year will be going digital.

The Singapore University of Technology and Design will also be holding its virtual open house on Feb 22, although it does not have a career fair. Live chat sessions will run on two days on Feb 22 and 23.

NTU’s virtual open house will be held on Feb 29, where real-life campus tours will be replaced by virtual tours. Prospective students will be able to view the campus through a 360-degree video that. Students can also attend online talks and presentations in virtual classrooms to find out more about NTU’s application and selection processes.

NTU deputy president and provost Ling San said: “While we are vigilant in protecting the health and well-being of our university community and our guests, we must also continue to provide prospective students with guidance and advice as they make choices for their university studies, and attract future students and assist the next generation of graduates find employment opportunities.”

16 February 2020

Polytechnic education in Singapore is preparing students well for working in the new economy.

Mr Buhendran Nico graduated from Republic Polytechnic last year with a diploma in infocomm security management. He is now working as a cyber security engineer at Keysight Technologies, where he audits computer systems and identifies any loopholes that may be vulnerable to hackers.

Mr Buhendran Nico says that aside from equipping students with technical skills, Republic Polytechnic also instils a culture of learning by doing, encouraging students to adopt a self-learning style at work.

He was among the 90.7 per cent of polytechnic graduates who entered the workforce last year and found permanent, freelance or part-time jobs within six months of graduation.

Mr Fardil Malik studied nursing in both the Institute of Technical Education and Nanyang Polytechnic, and is now a staff nurse at the Singapore General Hospital. He said he found his diploma course fruitful, citing a module that allowed him to conduct research to better understand outdated practices, as well as learn more about new practices that could benefit patients.

15 February 2020

From sports meets to career talks to a “high school” prom, the homeschool scene here has grown and is abuzz with activity. It is holding its first prom in May, for homeschooling teenagers who are aged 12 and above.

Parents also take turns to organise weekly sessions called co-ops for student interaction and also organize weekly meetings to do science experiments.

Ms Dawn Fung, who was a language teacher at City College, a non-profit private school, said that the growing number of activities offline and online have made homeschooling as an alternative route more visible in Singapore.

Homeschool parents use several methods, from overseas curricula such as Classical Conversations to adapting from the Education Ministry’s syllabus.

In Singapore, it is estimated that about 200 students in their teenage years do not attend formal school.

14 February 2020

Smart technology is being introduced gradually in buses ferrying students this year, in order to enable parents to communicate more effectively with the driver.

This smart bus fleet management system, which is being developed by the Singapore School and Private Hire Bus Owners’ Association, will be installed in at least 800 of its members’ buses by 2022.

For instance, if a bus en route to pick up students breaks down, the current modus operandi is for its operator to call and inform each child’s parent about the delay. With the new system and accompanying mobile app, the driver and operator need to only send out a group message to parents.

EZ-Link has partnered the association to enable e-payments for parents via an e-wallet app. This would be more efficient than the cash or cheque collection that is currently being implemented.

Each bus will be fitted with an ez-link card reader for students to tap their cards to record that they have boarded the bus.

14 February 2020

The Ministry of Communications and Information has launched a new film series, Regardless Of, featuring films created by young Singaporeans, each less than five minutes long, on topics like transport and housing.

Six students, two each from Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore, and one each from Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, were chosen after an open call last October.

Creative agency Tribal Worldwide Singapore and production firm MLC TV provided help.

“We were able to observe professionals… For example, how the sound man held the boom pole and mic’d up the talents,” said Temasek Poly student Ong Ren Wei, 20, who teamed up with NUS graduate Lan Yu, 25, for a short film about two families in a Build-To-Order block.

10 February 2020

Singapore Polytechnic students have created two virtual reality training drills for SMRT staff, which simulate train track maintenance and evacuation drills.

The drills were developed by two teams of aeronautical engineering students, and they were showcased at the annual Singapore Polytechnic Engineering Show held last month.

The track maintenance program in particular lets technical staff practise fixing faults and carry out maintenance duties wearing VR headsets.

Such simulated exercises could prevent fatal accidents from occurring during on-the-job training.