Each polytechnic, ITE to get six career guidance officers
The Republic Polytechnic-Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Teaching Dispensary, which was launched during the Republic Polytechnic’s annual Open House yesterday. The facility is the first of its kind among polytechnics.
Photo: Ooi Boon Keong
SINGAPORE — All five polytechnics and three Institute of Technical Education (ITE) colleges here will each have six full-time education and career guidance officers by the end of this year to help students make decisions about their education and careers.
The officers will help students to make the right choices based on their interest and abilities, Education Minister Heng Swee Keat said during a visit to the Republic Polytechnic’s (RP) annual Open House yesterday.
The move is in line with one of the recommendations made by the Applied Study in Polytechnics and ITE Review (ASPIRE) Committee last year. It had urged the Government to provide more support and career guidance for students in these institutions to further strengthen Singapore’s applied education pathways and provide more opportunities for them to realise their full potential.
The education and career guidance officers, who will be hired from diverse working backgrounds, will undergo the same basic counselling training before they are sent to the various schools. This is to ensure that all officers are equally well updated and are able to provide unbiased career advice to the students.
Mr Heng said: “They (the officers) will be trained to help students discover their strength and understand industry needs ... At the same time, they will help to spread the knowledge about education and career options to other lecturers. That way, the whole system can help our students make better decisions.”
Currently, career counselling is informally delivered by school lecturers, who tap into their own experiences and knowledge to help students in need of guidance.
By having education and career guidance officers on campus, students will be able to approach these officers for help in identifying their strengths and obtain recommendations on the type of industry they may be suited for, said RP’s Office of Industry and Collaboration director Tui Jurn Mun.
Students who already have an interest in a particular industry would be able to obtain additional information about it, such as the job requirements, advantages and disadvantages.
Mr Tui said: “Career guidance is already offered in primary and secondary schools and what we are doing for the polytechnic and ITE students now is similar, but on a higher level.”
The first day of the Open House — which runs until tomorrow — also saw the official launch of the Republic Polytechnic-Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Teaching Dispensary (RP-KTPH).
The dispensary is a simulation of a hospital pharmacy and has more than 600 different kinds of medicines.
This new first-of-its-kind facility among polytechnics is a collaboration between RP and KTPH to give the school’s Diploma in Pharmaceutical Science students a head start in their internship by equipping them with basic skills.
For example, students will learn to dispense the right medications according to prescriptions.
RP’s Deputy Principal Mr Seto Lok Yin said: “The collaboration with Khoo Teck Puat Hospital ... opens up more learning opportunities for our students as they gear towards skills mastery in their future careers.”
