Fact Sheet - MOU with Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Background

Since 1991, the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore, has enjoyed close ties with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (KM), Baden-Württemberg, Germany. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was first signed by the two parties 31 years ago to establish bilateral cooperation. A Supplemental MOU between the KM Colleges and ITE Colleges was also signed in 1991. On 27 June 2022, both the MOU and Supplemental MOU were renewed for the sixth time at ITE Headquarters. Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Education & Foreign Affairs; and Ms Theresa Schopper, Minister for Education, Youth & Sports, Baden-Württemberg, were the signatories of the MOU.

MOU Between Ministry of Education, Institute of Technical Education, Singapore, and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, Singapore’s then-Minister for Education, led a study visit team to Baden-Württemberg, Germany in September 1990. The visit resulted in the signing of an MOU between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and the Vocational and Industrial Training Board (VITB), under the Ministry of Education, Singapore. This collaboration continued when ITE took over VITB’s roles and functions on 1 April 1992. Since then, ITE and KM have enjoyed long-standing partnership and bilateral ties in the field of Vocational Training and Education (VTE). The MOU has been renewed a total of six times – in 1997, 2002, 2006, 2012, 2016, and 2022.

Implementation Date of Sixth Renewal

The MOU was renewed on 27 June 2022, effective 1 March 2021 to 30 June 2026.

Objectives

The objectives are:

• To share information, expertise, and best practices in VTE.

• To conduct joint courses, seminars, workshops and learning exchanges or projects.

• To cooperate in mutual areas of interest in the field of VTE and Pedagogic Training between Baden-Württemberg and Singapore, represented by ITE.

Supplemental MOU Between Ministry of Education, Institute of Technical Education and its Colleges, Singapore, and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Baden-Württemberg, and its Academy and Colleges, Germany

Under the umbrella MOU, a Supplemental MOU was also established between Germany’s Gottlieb-Daimler-Schule (GDS), a technical institute in Sindelfingen, Baden-Württemberg, and the then-ITE East (MacPherson) in 1991. The MOU was renewed in 1999.

In 2004, the Supplemental MOU was renewed a second time and extended to all campuses under the then-ITE East and ITE West Networks and GDS 1 and 2, when GDS was reorganised into two separate institutions in 2003.

When the Supplemental MOU was again renewed in subsequent years, the following institutions were included:

Fourth MOU – 2009

• ITE College East

• Carl-Benz-Schule, Gaggenau

Fifth MOU – 2012

• Kerchensteinerschule, Stuttgart

• Kaufmännische Schule, Göppingen

Sixth MOU – 2016

• Landesakademie für Fortbildung und Personalentwicklung an Schulen rAöR (State Academy for In-Service Training and Human Resources Development for Schools), Esslingen

• Gewerbliche Schule, Göppingen

• ITE College West

• ITE College Central

Institutions under Seventh MOU (2022)

The Supplemental MOU was renewed on 27 June 2022 at ITE Headquarters, effective 1 March 2021 to 30 June 2026. Under the new Supplemental MOU, the cooperation between KM Colleges and ITE Colleges will include:

• Centre for School Quality and Teacher Education

• Gottlieb-Daimler-Schule 1 Sindelfingen

• Gottlieb-Daimler-Schule 2 Sindelfingen

• Carl-Benz-Schule, Gaggenau

• Kerchensteinerschule, Stuttgart

• Kaufmännische Schule, Göppingen

• Gewerbliche Schule, Göppingen

• Kaufmännische Schule 1, Stuttgart

• Helen-Keller-Schule Weinheim

• ITE Academy

• ITE College Central

• ITE College East

• ITE College West

Areas of Cooperation

The areas of cooperation will include, but are not limited to the following:

• Customised Technical Engineer Diploma, or equivalent programme(s) in Singapore, and twinning programmes, for the progression of ITE students, in collaboration with KM and its institutions.

• Staff capability development, exchanges and attachments for joint projects.

• Student attachment for joint projects and student exchange for immersion and overseas experience in Germany and Singapore.

• Sharing of systems, best practices, key indicators and processes for benchmarking, organisational excellence and quality assurance.

• Collaboration and partnership with industry, including exchanges with relevant Industry, Craft and Trade Chambers and Associations.

• Collaboration in joint seminars, workshops and training for leaders, lecturers, and professionals in VTE.

Signatories & Witnesses

A total of 15 Signatories and Witnesses from both sides signed the latest Supplemental MOU.