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Singapore’s universities and polytechnics to expand work-study programmes

July 18, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

18 July 2019

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung recently announced at a work-learn carnival at Nanyang Polytechnic that existing work-study programmes at Singapore’s universities and polytechnics will be expanded.

The Nanyang Technological University will offer six new work-study degrees in areas such as engineering, data science and business analytics in the new academic year for 2019.

Currently, the local universities offer 16 work-study degree programmes.

The polytechnics will roll out another 15 new Earn and Learn programmes (ELP), while the Institute of Technical Education is adding more work-learn technical diploma programmes, which are also a form of ELP, to its current slate of 14.

Students will be selected yearly for the programme after interviews with the universities and employers, and need to maintain an academic grade point average to continue in the programme.

Polytechnic graduates who have participated in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme earn more than their peers

July 16, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

16 July 2019

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung has revealed that polytechnic graduates who have participated in the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme (ELP) have managed to secure salaries about 10 per cent more than those who have a polytechnic diploma.

The ELP is a programme that allows polytechnic graduates to work and study at the same time. Participating employers can recruit local fresh talent, within three years of graduation. and prepare them to take up suitable job roles. It provides them with more opportunities, after graduation, to build on the skills and knowledge they acquired in school.

Mr Ong, who was speaking at a work-learn event at Nanyang Polytechnic, said of the results, which were compiled by the Ministry of Trade and Industry: “There is a meaningful premium if you do the ELP after polytechnic graduation. In fact, the employment outcomes of ELP graduates compare very favourably to those polytechnic graduates who move on to private degree programmes, not forgetting that students of private degrees pay high fees, while ELP students earn a salary and chalk up work experience while studying.”

Mr Ong also said that SkillsFuture Singapore, a statutory board under the Education Ministry, will be commissioning a Graduate Employment Survey for ELP graduates later this year to gather more data.

New express programme assures polytechnic students of a place in a local university, and also a job after graduation

July 15, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

15 July 2019

A new “through-train” programme will be implemented in Singapore’s polytechnics to allow students to get a place in a local university, and also be assured of a job.

Under this scheme, students will also graduate from university up to a year earlier than their peers. This is the first such programme in Singapore that gives full-time diploma students a guaranteed route to a degree.

As an example of an implementation of this programme, Temasek Polytechnic has tied up with the Singapore University of Social Sciences and the Singapore Institute of Technology to offer this new pathway in April next year for 40 students in the building services and mechatronics sectors.

Students in TP’s mechatronics diploma will go on to study SIT’s bachelor of engineering in mechanical design and manufacturing engineering, while those in TP’s integrated facility management or green building and sustainability course may move on to SUSS’ bachelor of science in facilities management.

These students will take three or more university modules in their third year of polytechnic, go on an internship with their sponsoring companies, and graduate with a diploma.

During their undergraduate years, they will study and work concurrently for the company, and after graduation will return as full-time employees.

Singapore University of Technology and Design will be introducing a bachelor’s degree in design and artificial intelligence

July 12, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

12 July 2019

The Singapore University of Technology and Design will be introducing a bachelor’s degree in design and artificial intelligence (AI).

This new degree programme will be launched the year 2020, with an expected annual intake of 50 students. The course will last for three and a half years.

The AI bachelor’s programme will be the first of its kind in Singapore, with a focus on the integration of design and AI.

As SUTD president Chong Tow Chong explains: “For this digital era, data is going to be the currency. AI and machine learning will be the necessary tools to capitalise on. There will be a new generation of designers that will utilise AI in many ways such as increasing efficiency.”

SUTD was ranked as the fifth-most influential scientific research institution in telecommunications by Clarivate Analytics in 2017. Last year, 94 per cent of SUTD’s fresh graduates found employment within six months.

Designing Singapore for future generations

July 11, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

11 July 2019

According to the Meteorological Service of Singapore, rapid urbanisation has led to the exacerbation of the urban heat island effect, meaning that Singapore heats up twice as fast as the rest of the world, at a rate of 0.25 degrees celsius per decade.

A common perception is that Singapore simply needs to pour more resources into improving technology to develop solutions. But these are ultimately changes enacted on a micro level. In order to create a truly sustainable Singapore, our communities and living spaces need to be completely redesigned from the ground up.

According to the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment (NUS SDE), the right way forward is a people-centric approach. SDE calls this approach Well and Green thinking. As the name suggests, it aims to redefine the way community design is approached, by placing emphasis not just on environmentally-friendly and sustainable design, but also on the well-being of residents.

Urban design that facilitates residential interaction helps create a sense of community and civic ownership, ensuring that residents will look out for each other’s welfare. NUS SDE hopes to take this concept of the sustainable integrated development and expand it into entire districts — effectively making it the future of the whole nation.

East Asian Institute at the National University gets new director

July 10, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

10 July 2019

The East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore has appointed Dutch national Bert Hofman as its fourth director.

Mr Hofman, who had previously served as chief economist for the World Bank and director of its Singapore office, takes over from Professor Zheng Yongnian.

When contacted, Mr Hofman said he was excited to join the institute, which has a strong reputation for studying China and North-east Asia.

He cited the current trade dispute between the United States and China as an issue which requires “more than ever fact-based analysis of the causes and nature of the tensions, its possible impact on the region, and development of options for possible solutions”.

Mr Hofman has an economics degree from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a master’s in economics from the University of Kiel in Germany. He has also worked as country director for the Philippines for the World Bank before his first posting in Singapore.

Assessing students on creative thinking ability and global competency

July 9, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

09 July 2019

Starting from the year 2021, the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) will attempt to assess creative thinking ability and global competency in students.

The organisation headquartered in Paris has defined global competence as “the capacity to examine global and inter-cultural issues, to take multiple perspectives, to engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions with people from different cultures and to act for collective well-being and sustainable development”.

Students will be assessed on these skills as follows:

In the first part, students will read about a case study, and respond to questions that evaluate their capacity to understand the complexity of the case, the multiple perspectives of the diverse actors involved, and suggest solutions.

This will be followed by a questionnaire to gauge their openness towards people from other cultures, respect for cultural otherness, global-mindedness and responsibility.

Teachers and school heads will also be given a questionnaire which aims to provide a comparative picture of how education systems are integrating global, international and inter-cultural perspectives through the curriculum and other activities.

Pisa believes that it is important to nurture the capacity of students to look at the world through different lenses and perspectives, appreciate different ways of thinking and different cultures.

Education has always been the way to pass down knowledge, skills, values and culture to enable subsequent generations to thrive. Educators, as well as parents, need to foster a fuller range of skills, including creative thinking and global competency, to enable young people to adapt and thrive in this rapidly changing world.

Buying places in Singapore schools though donations is now not allowed

July 8, 2019 by Maths Statistics Science Tutor

08 July 2019

Making donations to secure places for children in Singapore schools is forbidden today, though it did occur in the past.

Today, school admissions are conducted centrally by the Ministry of Education, which does not allow schools to solicit or accept donations from parents to secure places for admission.

An MOE spokesperson said that the schools admissions framework aims to provide students with school places according to a set of transparent criteria.

Singapore’s autonomous universities have also said that family ties and donations do not have any bearing on student admissions.

In response to queries, the Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan (SHHK) said its affiliated schools all have long histories.

“So it is possible that such practices (of donations for places) could have occurred in the past when school admission was decided purely by the school’s management,” the association said.