INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATIONS
As part of the ITE Advantage plan to brand ITE internationally, ITE extended its international-certificate courses overseas. By the end of FY 2006, ITE had exported five of these courses to China and Vietnam by entering into licensing agreements with local training providers that have a foothold in overseas education. The international courses were in Accounting, Business Studies (Administration), Electronics (Computer & Networking), Info-Communications Technology and Precision Engineering (Machining). The latest addition launched in December 2006, Nitec International in Precision Engineering (Machining), is being conducted at Shanghai’s Huadong Technological University premises.
The Singapore-based private training providers ITE partnered with in FY 2006 were: SCI Education Pte Ltd, SPETA Resources Development Centre Pte Ltd, Tyndale Education Group Pte Ltd and Vietnam Singapore Investment and Consultancy (VSIC) Pte Ltd. Each has its training partners based in China or Vietnam, namely, the Xiamen Technical College, Shanghai Advanced Applied Technology Training Centre, Beijing Finance School and the VSIC Computer School.
- Renewed Ties: HE Helmut Rau (facing camera), Minister for Education, Youth & Sports, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, bonded with Singapore’s Minister of State for Education, Mr Gan Kim Yong, as part of partnership renewal with ITE.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
During FY 2006, ITE engaged actively with new overseas institutional partners to forge strategic alliances within the global Vocational and Technical Education community. It sealed three new Memoranda of Understanding with partners, Sinclair Community College in the USA, the Global Education Network (GEN), and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. Members of the GEN comprise educational institutions such as Kirkwood Community College (USA), Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (Canada), and Box Hill Institute (Australia). ITE also renewed its partnership with Germany’s Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Baden- Württemberg, and Canada’s Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. The MoUs would open doors for ITE to not only increase its global presence, but also expand its Global Education Programme with new opportunities for students.
GOVERNMENT-TO-GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
Following a State Visit by President S R Nathan to Jordan from 18 to 22 November 2006, a plaque was jointly signed by the President and His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, to commemorate the establishment of the Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED) Regional Vocational Training Centre (RVTC). ITE’s expertise was sought to develop the RVTC located at Marka, Jordan. During FY 2006, ITE embarked on the development of curriculum and teaching materials and initiated a 120-hour Air-conditioning Systems Maintenance & Diagnostic programme to upgrade the skills of existing craftsmen and skilled workers working in the air-conditioning, refrigeration or heating industry in the AMED countries. Training would start in October 2007.
- Curriculum Development: ITE representatives on
hand to lend their expertise to the Jordanians.
Besides Jordan, ITE had also extended its technical consultancy service to Indonesia in the setting up of a special vocational training arm within Batam Polytechnic. ITE was engaged by Singapore’s Economic Development Board to offer technical and vocational expertise as part of the aid rendered by Singapore to the Special Economic Zones, comprising Batam, Bintan and the Karimun islands. In lending expertise to the Batam Polytechnic, ITE would develop a 1,120-hour-Diploma-1 level Mechatronics course to be launched in January 2008.
ITE’s commitment to Vietnam via the Vietnam-Singapore Technical Training Centre (VSTTC ) saw further development. In August 2006, the Vietnamese authorities approved a merger between the VSTTC and the Binh Duong Technical School to form the Vietnam-Singapore Technical School (VSTS). ITE would be providing consultancy services to the VSTS from 2007 to 2009.
Government-to-Government initiative was further boosted in Vocational and Technical Education (VTE), with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Singapore and Thailand Ministers for Education, to collaborate in the field of education, on 14 December 2006. Following which, ITE tied up with the Thai Office of Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) to establish a framework for collaboration in VTE. Under the framework, ITE would develop a Management Training Programme for the OVEC Directors, provide consultancy to OVEC, and initiate staff and student exchange programmes between ITE and OVEC.
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
ITE continued to provide technical expertise to developing economies to promote global citizenship under the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) for the sixth-year running. Launched in 2000, the IAI framework facilitates the integration of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) into ASEAN. It looked to ITE for the training of the CLMV trainers, either at ITE, or their home countries. As at 31 March 2007, a total of 1,033 CLMV trainers were trained by ITE.
INDUSTRY COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS
At the end of FY 2006, ITE signed 43 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with partners from the following industry clusters: Fitness Training, Hospitality, Automotive Technology, Business, Electronics, Information Technology and Mechanical Engineering. These MoUs, worth a total of S$1.1 million, saw to the needs of the new courses rolled out by ITE for the year in review.
