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OPENING ADDRESS BY MR BRUCE POH, DIRECTOR & CEO/ITE & CHAIRMAN OF TAY ENG SOON SCHOLARSHIP FUND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AT TAY ENG SOON SYMPOSIUM 2007 AT ITE HQ AUDITORIUM ON 30 NOVEMBER 2007 AT 1400 HOURS
Members of ITE and Polytechnic Board of Governors
Our Distinguished Keynote and Symposium Speakers
Friends and Colleagues
Ladies and Gentlemen
Introduction
1 Good afternoon, and a very warm welcome to the Tay Eng Soon Symposium 2007. I would like to extend a special note of thanks to our guests from MOE, the education institutions and industry.
2 Today’s symposium, the sixth in the series since 1996, is organised under the auspices of the Tay Eng Soon Scholarship Fund, which was set up in 1993 in honour of the late Dr Tay Eng Soon, our former Minister-in-charge of technical and polytechnic education. The intent of the Fund is to promote technical education in Singapore, through the provision of scholarships and awards to deserving ITE and polytechnic graduates, and the sponsorship of symposia and seminars on technical education, to understand trends and challenges in technical education as a strategy for economic and human resource development.
Seminar Theme3 Today’s symposium on “Authentic Learning in Technical Education: Communities of Practice, Issues & Challenges” is an issue of great interest to educators worldwide and in Singapore. As educators, we are constantly grappling with the challenge of providing authentic learning, and authentic environments for our students, so that when they join the workforce, they will be both work-ready and world-ready. s an education institution, we place strong emphasis on innovation and enterprise as part of our holistic education for students. ITE students have fared well, winning numerous local and international awards in business and technology-related competitions. ITE graduates have also shown strong inclination towards entrepreneurship. In our 2005 Survey of Graduates who have been in the job market for 10 years, 4% have started their own businesses, up from 3% in the last survey done in 2002. We hope to see a rising trend in future surveys.
4 We are therefore pleased that we have distinguished speakers and participants from academia, education institutions and industry, who share a common interest in examining the issue. It is only through such collective wisdom and engagement that new ideas may emerge and, as “iron sharpens iron”, new ideas be developed for sharing and learning.
Challenges and Opportunities in Technical Education5 Globalisation has brought new challenges, and with them, new opportunities. To remain relevant, we have to ensure that our Vocational and Technical Education System keeps pace with technological and pedagogical developments worldwide.
6 The push for authentic learning in technical and higher education is growing in the US, Europe and parts of Asia. Here in Singapore, authentic learning in our institutions of higher learning like the Polytechnics and ITE, has taken a variety of forms. Initiatives like the “ Teaching Factory ” of Nanyang Polytechnic, “Problem-based Learning” in polytechnics like Temasek and Republic Polytechnic, industry attachments, apprenticeships and joint institutional-industry training collaboration, are examples of how institutions respond to the challenge of “authenticity” in education.
7 ITE has, in recent years, developed several large-scale, realistic learning environments, such as the Healthcare Simulation Training Centre, Amber@West Training Restaurant, Beauty Therapy Training Centre and 77th Street Retail Training Centre, to provide authentic learning experiences for our students.
8 At the same time, we have also forged close collaborations with global industry leaders like Microsoft, Sun Microsystem, ABB, Toon Boon, to mention a few, to develop Centres of Technology. These centres enable us to keep pace with the latest technologies in the field and collaborate on meaningful projects for real-life learning for staff and students. To date, ITE has established seven such Centres of Technology.
9 We will continue to delve deeper into this subject of authentic learning as we engage our ITE lecturers in our annual Teachers’ Conference in February next year. The theme is “Developing Capabilities, Advancing Authentic Practices”. We aim to showcase best practices and the diversity of approaches we have in teaching and learning.
Speakers for the Symposium10 The three distinguished speakers this afternoon, Professor Ron Oliver and Mr Andrew Crow from Australia and Dr Moira Lee from Temasek Polytechnic, will share with us their perspectives and experiences in the area of Authentic Learning and Communities of Practice. Their collective experiences at the international, institutional and industry levels will enable us to gain valuable insights on the symposium theme from different perspectives.
11 I trust that their presentations will not only challenge your current approaches to teaching and learning, but will also open your mind to new avenues and possibilities on how you can more effectively engage learners. I encourage you to exchange ideas with our speakers and with one another.
12 On this note, may I express my appreciation to the Organising Committee chaired by Mr Aw York Bin, Deputy CEO (Industry), ITE, and members from the five Polytechnics, for their planning and organisation of this symposium.
13 I wish everyone an interesting and fruitful symposium this afternoon.
14 Thank you.