More industry exposure, flexible curriculum for polytechnic and ITE students among proposals by review panel
-
Loading... - Alex Pinyin
- 07 Jan 2022
- 421 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
These are some of the recommendations announced on Friday (Jan 7) by the committee reviewing opportunities and pathways in applied education.
The committee, led by Second Minister for Education Dr Maliki Osman, sought views from more than 2,000 stakeholders during the review, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) in a press release.
The institutions will progressively implement the recommendations from the 2022 academic year, it added.
The six recommendations cover three areas - enhancing students’ career readiness and resilience for the future economy, providing more flexibility and opportunities, as well as building stronger and more integrated support systems, said the Education Ministry.
"With these recommendations, polytechnic and ITE students can look forward to a more fulfilling applied education journey and graduating with deeper industry-relevant skills and broader life skills, and be better primed for future opportunities," said Dr Maliki on Friday.
"Students can also look forward to an improved student experience, with a stronger and more holistic support system."
ITE’s Nitec and Higher Nitec programmes will be streamlined into a three-year pathway, starting with eight ITE courses from the 2022 intake, MOE said.
As previously announced in April 2021, students under this curriculum will go through a three-year course for a Higher Nitec qualification, instead of four years.
The committee also made recommendations to expand opportunities for industry exposure, which is a “key feature” of applied education, said the ministry.
INDUSTRY ATTACHMENTS
Under ITE’s enhanced curricular structure, students will have two linked industry attachments, comprising a three-month stint in their second year and another in their third year for six months.
“ITE will also engage employers to play a more active role in training students by appointing experienced workplace mentors,” the press release read.
The polytechnics will explore job shadowing and short job stints for students before their third year or during the school holidays, said MOE.
This is in addition to the current compulsory third-year internship for industry exposure. Read More…
