INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR ITE'S EXPERTISE

Recognitions aside, ITE made strong inroads in sharing its expertise and broadening its international presence by lending technical expertise to two key Government-to-Government consultancy projects – the development of the Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC) in Marka, Jordan, as part of the Asia- Middle East Dialogue (AMED) between Singapore and Jordan, and the setting up of the Special Vocational Training Arm within Batam Polytechnic, Indonesia, as part of the assistance programme by Singapore to the Batam, Bintan and Karimun Special Economic Zone.

The Jordan RVTC was officially opened on 21 October 2007 by the country’s Labour Minister, Mr Bassem Al-Salem, and Singapore’s Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mr Zainul Abidin Rasheed. In the project, ITE lent its expertise in Building Services Technology through curriculum development, design of training facilities and in the conduct of Train-the-Trainer programmes.

In January 2008, some 40 high-level delegates from Ghana, Madagascar and Mozambique visited ITE to learn about Singapore’s experience in building its VTE systems over the last 40 years. They were part of a group of 70 delegates who were in Singapore to attend a two-week workshop – “Leaders in Education and Training for Sustained Growth in Africa” (LETSGA) – jointly organised by The World Bank, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Enterprise Singapore.

FY 2007 also saw 580 overseas visitors from 26 countries, of which one-third were advanced economies, coming to ITE to study its VTE model and best practices. Many of the visitors were high-level government officials, including Ministers and politicians from Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and USA.