With a Master of Arts, a lifelong learner procrastinates no longer
Mr Clement Ng had always wanted to pursue a postgraduate degree – but it took some nudging before he finally embarked on a Master of Arts (Educational Management).
Mr Clement Ng advocates lifelong learning and hopes to offer his experiences and knowledge to the next generation of working professionals. Photos: Clement Ng
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As an avid lifelong learner who works in the continuing education sector, Mr Clement Ng is intimately familiar with the manifold benefits of pursuing a postgraduate degree.
However, it took him a protracted period of 15 years before he finally took the plunge and enrolled in the Master of Arts (Educational Management) programme at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NIE NTU, Singapore) in 2020, graduating the following year. NIE is a provider of graduate programmes and courses designed to support the learning needs of educators and professionals hailing from a wide variety of education-related sectors and industries.
Mr Ng candidly confessed: “The idea of pursuing a postgraduate degree popped into my mind as early as after my first degree.”
However, after completing his undergraduate studies in applied mathematics, Mr Ng joined the workforce and soon found himself immersed in his role in marketing and business development. To boost his skill set, he decided to pursue a postgraduate diploma in marketing, which he completed in 2004.
Mr Ng considered continuing with a Master’s degree but the demands of a burgeoning career gradually caused his goal to recede into the back of his mind, and his application for a Master’s degree remained half-completed.
“Imagine the amount of procrastination through the years!” he said. “It took a nudge from a former colleague to revive my application in 2019.”
A VIBRANT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
As a leader in an education-related organisation, educational management was a natural choice of discipline for Mr Ng.
“The Educational Management programme allowed me to obtain a better understanding of how the education system combines human and material resources to supervise, plan, strategise and implement structures to benefit educators, employees and learners alike,” he shared.
Mr Ng remarked that his fellow classmates came from diverse backgrounds, which made class discussions lively and informative.
He said: “Their professional domains ranged from the military to local and international educational institutions, lending a diversity of perspectives and experiences that enriched our discussions and fostered a conducive learning environment.”
He found the curriculum highly engaging, as it covered topics like organisation learning and development, servant leadership and principalship, all of which contributed to a cohesive overview of educational management as a field.
“Despite being specialised areas in their own right, the topics were all interwoven to provide us with a holistic understanding of various aspects of an organisation, from the overall structure down to the individual level,” he said.
As the Master of Arts (Educational Management) is a coursework programme, Mr Ng did not write a thesis, but instead completed assignments that focused on research and writing.
“The faculty were always forthcoming in offering guidance whenever we faced roadblocks in writing the assignments,” he recalled.
INSIGHTS TO BENEFIT THE WORKPLACE
Today, Mr Ng is an assistant director in an organisation centred on workplace learning and productivity.
“I’m still faced with challenges at work,” he said. “But the knowledge gained from the programme has given me deeper insights and enabled me to consider these challenges from another perspective.”
Mr Ng, who hopes to continue advocating for lifelong learning and offering his experiences and knowledge to the next generation of working professionals, advised others who are considering postgraduate education not to procrastinate in taking that first step on their learning journey.
“Though there may be many considerations affecting that decision, sometimes it is just a matter of biting the bullet,” he said.
As for those thinking about enrolling in the Master of Arts (Educational Management) at NIE, Mr Ng enthusiastically recommends it. “Some may think that the programme is relevant only to those in the education sector, but I disagree. As working professionals, any form of learning should be purposeful and geared towards a specific goal or target. Educational management can help us to connect the dots, to see and comprehend the larger vision.”
Applications for graduate studies at NIE NTU, Singapore, are ongoing until Jul 4 for coursework programmes and Jul 27 for research programmes. Visit nie.edu.sg/jan2024 for more information.
