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$2b for ITE to supply foreigners with cheap local workers

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$2 billion to keep ITE on top
Polytechnics will also have more places for ITE students to move up to
By Leow Si Wan
ST_IMAGES_SWITE19-D8L.jpg


THE education system here aims to equip every student with skills needed to make a good living, and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) is a crucial part of this vision, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said yesterday.

To ensure that the ITE continues being a key pillar of the system, the Government will pump $2 billion into it in the next five years as an investment in vocational and technical education.

The Government invests heavily in ITE to develop top-notch infrastructure for it, and to staff it with capable, inspiring teachers who deliver an industry-relevant curriculum, he said.

The result is a system of technical and vocational training not found elsewhere in the world, said PM Lee.

It is through this system that the Government aims to equip every young Singaporean - even those less academically inclined - with skills he needs to hold his own, make a good living and be a part of this country's economic transformation.

The ITE has been thrust a new goal to shoot for too: It has to aim to get one in every four of its students into a polytechnic by 2015, up from one in five now.

More places will be added to the five polytechnics so more ITE students can make this crossover.

The Prime Minister was speaking to more than 500 government officials, ITE staff, students and industry partners at the official opening of ITE's College West campus in Choa Chu Kang yesterday.

Under the ITE Master Plan, ITE's 10 smaller ITE campuses across the island are being consolidated into three, more well-appointed ones: College West is the second to open, with College East having opened in Simei in 2005 and College Central to come in Ang Mo Kio in 2013.

The 9.54ha College West, with an enrolment of 7,500 full-time students, will focus on culinary and hospitality services, land transport, security technology and service innovation.

To supply skills-ready workers to these industries, the campus has been kitted with a 22-room training hotel, a coffee-barista training centre and a centre featuring the latest technology such as

real-time video capturing systems, among other state-of-the-art facilities.

PM Lee noted that good schools and top-grade universities can be found elsewhere, but the ITE's uniqueness has put it on the itinerary of many foreign visitors.

It has also become internationally known from the many accolades it has won: It was recently mentioned in The Economist's special report on the future of the state; the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) Publication last year hailed it as 'perhaps the best in the world' among vocational and technical systems, and 'a significant element of the Singapore success story'.

The superlatives reflect Singapore's commitment to building 'an education system catering not just to an elite or a minority, but across the board to all our students', said PM Lee.

In his thumbnail sketch of ITE's history, he noted that vocational training began here in the 1960s.

A milestone came in 1992, when vocational education became a post-secondary programme, so all ITE entrants had to have completed secondary education.

As a mark of how far ITE has come, its graduates are now sought after by employers: Nine in 10 are hired within six months, and employers think well of them, said PM Lee.

The ITE will be part of a 'flexible, porous education system' so students can pick from multiple avenues to reach 'different pinnacles of success', each according to his ability.

N-level graduates, for example, may choose to skip their O-level examinations to pursue Higher Nitec courses at ITE, and be assured of a place at the polytechnics.

And to ensure no student will miss out on a shot at education because finances are tight, those from the lowest one-third of households in terms of income will have their education costs entirely covered.

The Government will also help ITE build up its endowment fund, which can go into providing financial aid and scholarships, by giving $1.50 for every dollar ITE raises.

PM Lee had this parting shot to ITE students in his audience yesterday: 'I hope all the students will take full advantage of the opportunities which ITE offers you and continue to do the best for yourselves and for the country, for many years to come.'

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The ITE is a system of technical and vocational training not found elsewhere in the world, said PM Lee. It is through this system that the Government aims to equip every young Singaporean - even those less academically inclined - with skills he needs to hold his own, make a good living and be a part of this country's economic transformation.
 

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ITE is initiated for those Mats and Ah Nehs to spend their time in, instead of doing drugs or a life of crime.
 
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