Speech - Welcome Address by Ms Low Khah Gek, CEO/ITE, at MOU Signing between ITE and NCS, on 10 May 2024, 10.00am, ITE HQ, Executive Salon 1

Mr Tan Kiat How

Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications & Information, and Ministry of National Development

Mr Sam Liew

Chief Executive, GOV+, NCS Pte Ltd

Mdm Zuraidah Abduallah

CEO, Mendaki Singapore

NCS partners, ITE colleagues and students

Ladies and gentlemen

1. NCS has been ITE’s long-standing industry partner.  Since 2015, NCS has provided internship opportunities for students, industry attachments for staff, as well as sponsored course medals for high-performing  graduates.

2. With the launch of the TIP Alliance (TechSkills Accelerator for ITEs and Polytechnics) initiative in September 2022, NCS and ITE have further collaborated to nurture tech talents and enable them to continue to grow and thrive as they join the industry.

3. NCS and ITE share the same belief that much of the tech competencies can be nurtured at the workplace. Hence, NCS and ITE collaborated on two programmes that emphasise workplace learning:

   1. One-Year Internship. This year, 127 students from various Higher Nitec ICT courses embarked on 1-year internship at NCS. For one year, the students are committed to a 4-day work week (work + practical training) at NCS and return to ITE on the 5^th day for on-campus training which includes gearing up for various industry certifications recognised by the industry.

   2. Work-Study Diploma. NCS has employed 71 ITE graduates and sponsored them for the Work-Study Diploma programme in Cloud Management & Operations. The 71 WSDip trainees do real work at NCS and receive a salary. NCS also commits to providing them on-the-job training at the workplace while ITE provides on-campus training and the trainees will achieve a diploma after 2.5 years.

4. These initiatives have yielded excellent outcomes with our interns and WSDip trainees receiving  compliments from the industry professionals. Let me highlight two examples:

   • Aloysius Seet Wei Han from Higher Nitec in Electronics Engineering is doing his 1-year internship with NCS from Jul 2023 to Jun 2024.  Aloysius was deployed by NCS to AGO (Auditor General Office) to support the AGO with their tech refresh, and resolve transition technical, operational and staff capability issues. The Head and CIO of AGO praised Aloysius’ work attitude and performance and indicated to his NCS supervisor that NCS should consider hiring him as a permanent staff. This can easily be done if NCS sponsors him for the Work-Study Diploma Programme!

   • Mohar Jitender Mahtani did his internship at NCS as a Data Analyst when he was pursuing his Higher Nitec in Business Information Systems. After graduating, he is hired as a Desk Engineer and sponsored by NCS for the Work-Study Diploma in Cloud Management and Operations. This ‘through-train’ from Higher Nitec to Work-Study Diploma is a win-win model for the student as well as the company. The student is able to upskill, gain more work experience and achieve a higher qualification while NCS is able to retain talents.

5. Today, it is ITE’s pleasure and honour to sign the MOU with NCS and further cement our partnership and shared commitment to nurture tech talents for the industry. I thank Sam and NCS staff for your  unwavering strong support for ITE and your firm belief in the potential and talents of ITE students. I would also like to thank our Guest of Honour, SMS Tan Kiat How for joining us today to witness the MOU signing. Your presence here underscores the importance and significance of education-industry partnership to provide ‘beyond-campus’ learning and leverage ‘workplace training’ as a key skills development enabler.

6. We look forward to our collective efforts enabling students to build industry-relevant skills and companies to grow their talent pipeline and their business.

Thank you.