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SINGAPORE: Singapore's Institute of Technical Education beat 100 others to win a prestigious US$100,000 education award.
The prize, given for the first time by IBM and the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government recognises the best global programmes in transforming governments.
For more than 10 years, ITE has been working hard with experts to refine its courses and the transformation has paid off.
No longer a place for low achievers or school drop outs, ITE says graduation rates went up by more than 30 per cent and one in nine graduates moved on to high-paying jobs.
These statistics impressed the judges behind the award who said that the ITE has improved the lives of students, increased youth employment rates and the Singapore economy.
They added that ITE's model can be used to transform poor-performing educational institutes in other countries.
Bruce Poh, CEO for ITE, said this award will help develop its image not just locally but on the international front as well.
"It's a great honour to win this award. In a global stage, it will put ITE in a different perspective. As you know ITE has been doing a lot of consultancies overseas, trying to replicate what we've done well here in other parts of the world. Besides, developing countries are very interested in terms of doing their own technical education training (for) their own people to support the industries."
The entries were judged on five basic criteria, including the level of innovation, effectiveness and how well the programmes can be transferred to another country.
ITE has successfully achieved this, having sent their teachers from Singapore to places like Vietnam, Indonesia and Jordan to provide training and setting up of facilities in various technical courses.
A total of 100 entries from 30 countries were submitted for the award. - CNA/vm
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