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Supply and Transport Centre
- First Army Unit to Achieve COJTC Status

by Carrie Soh

ASK any army regular or NSF Trainees in Supply and Transport Centre (STC) to describe the role of the army’s STC, and more often than not, their answers would be “STC...isn’t that the army’s vocational training centre, where vocational skills are imparted…?” Correct! But more than just a logistics vocational training centre, STC is also a Certified On-the-Job Training Centre (COJTC). As the first Army unit to receive the COJTC status from ITE – a recognition that ITE accords to organisations that possess quality on-the-job (OJT) training systems – the accreditation further affirms that STC has in place training programmes which carry the hallmarks of good OJT practices.

Structured Training - The Ticket to Best-in-Class Training
Even before receiving the accreditation, STC is already implementing its own learning programme. Dubbed the “Learning Lab”, this programme gives trainees the opportunities to learn in an actual work environment. For example, a trainee is taken out of the classroom and tasked to run an actual storehouse, during which he picks up skills like the principles of stock taking, how to separate items to minimise fire hazards and how to deal with soldiers who make difficult and last-minute requirements. Through such experiential problem-based learning, as opposed to the conventional methods of lecturing, the trainees will understand the subject better than if it was taught to him.

Revealed Major Kamaludin Bin Daud, Chief Instructor at STC: “As the training is not conducted in a clear and structured manner, this means that the amount of skills the trainees eventually pick up at the end of the training session becomes dependent on how knowledgeable their instructor is. Hence, we decided to work with ITE to come out with a standard training blueprint for all our instructors to use. With standardised training, our trainees will receive quality training that is best in class.”

Added STC’s Commanding Officer, LTC Lim Tong Peng: “Apart from providing us with a structure to enhance our existing training methodologies, the COJTC Scheme also gives us the opportunity to benchmark our training with ITE, or any other first-class organisations in industry. Thanks to the benchmarking process, we are able to raise our standards and, in the process, enhance the competency levels of our trainers and trainees for future employment, as well as create opportunities for them to gain the requisite skills and qualifications for furthering their education in relevant ITE courses.”

Experiencing is Believing
STC’s new training methodology was demonstrated at its COJTC Certification Ceremony held recently. Instead of the usual catered lunch, guests were invited to try their hand at making their own food. All they had to do was to follow the pre-defined steps that were listed in the standard training blueprint, which STC uses for training its own chefs. The blueprint was so foolproof and so easy to use, that even the guests, who were new to the tasks, had no problems making their own ‘epok epok’, ‘ondeh ondeh’, fruit tarts, rojak salad or even carve their own garnishes.

Truly, training has never been made easier!