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Was daydreaming on the bus home a couple of days ago when the bus came to an abrupt stop. The bus came to a halt in front of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College West in Clementi. I have no idea why… but as I was staring at the Institute/College, I started pondering on the Ministry of Education’s attempt to re-brand ITE. Now, it comes with a College suffix to it. Amusing. Now think about this ok?

Institute<-> College. The two words used together. Does it make sense to you? Doesn’t it mean that it is a College for the Institute?…

What does “College” mean? Institution for higher learning.

What does “Institute” mean? Generally it’s just any school beyond the secondary school level that is devoted to technical studies. Sometimes being a unit of a University. Well at least that’s what dictionary.com says.

Notice that both of them somehow mean the same thing? How can Singapore’s current leaders at Ministry of Education enforce a better education system when they have their concepts wrong themselves. Well for those of you that have no idea why Singapore is trying to re-brand ITE, it was a mistake done by the older government. They made ITE a “dumping ground” for “weaker students”.

Who are these weaker students?

• Weaker students: Students that did not score well in their Singapore-Cambridge GCE ‘O’ / ‘N’ level examinations.
  • Those that could not enter any Junior College or Polytechnics.
  • Either due to having high points (Even though they passed all their subjects. Like if they got C6 grade for all subjects including English, Math and Science.).
  • Or failing a required subject for some courses that the student had passion in. (Like getting D7 for Maths or Science but Passed everything else.)

Do they really believe that by adding “College” to the end of ITE will change Singaporeans’ mindset about ITE. That ITE is not for the weaker or slower students.

This very mindset was actually engraved by the Ministry many many years ago. The Ministry of Education has done too many mistakes in the past and are now trying to repair it. As smooth as the speeches go, they know that it won’t be an easy task. They should not have introduced the streaming idea at all.

The paths were created to divide the people since young. Streaming begun for every Singaporean at a very young age. 3 different programs introduced ever since to divide 3 different breed of people. Let me give you an overview of these paths.

At Primary Level:

1. EM1
2. EM2
3. EM3

At Secondary Level:

1. Special/Express
   - A four year course which students will then have to sit for GCE ‘O’ level exams.
2. Normal Academic
   - A four + one year course which students will then have to sit for GCE ‘N’ level exams on their fourth year. If the student scored 10 points and below, the student could sit for GCE ‘O’ level exams the year after.
3. Normal Technical
   - A four year course which students will have to sit for GCE ‘N’ level exam and sent to ITE without a choice.

Post Secondary Level:

1. Junior College (JC, 2 year GCE ‘A’ level course)
2. Polytechnic (3 year Diploma course) / Institutes (Similar to JCs but offering a 3 year GCE ‘A’ level course)
3. ITE (Offering different levels of education. Most similar to a foundation course that prepares a student before entering a foreign University.)

After which should be University if they could afford to get themselves a Degree that is. Now, what do you think is the problem with this structure? If you end up in Categories 1 and 2, you are rather safe from mockery and have a good chance in getting a good paying job upon graduation. If you end up in Category one however, Singaporeans will perceive you as a very smart or clever person or even a born genius.

Unfortunately, if you end up in category 3, you will be looked at as dumb, useless or even as a person with no future. The reason for this is that students under category 3 can’t progress in life without moving up to category 2. Once you end up in category 3, you are kind of stuck there. If you end up in ITE, you can’t go to a local university without going through an affiliated polytechnic course.

Furthermore if a male Singaporean could move up to a polytechnic after his ITE course(s), the fellow will just get older and older. By the time he goes through ITE, National Service and Polytechnic to pursue a basic degree at a local university, he will be like 29 or 30 years old!?

So if you end up in ITE and you aren’t from a rich family that could afford to pay for your studies at a foreign university to get a foreign degree, how can you continue to get yourself a degree. Hello MOE? “Wake up you idea!” There are some late bloomers in this world! You have to give everyone a fair chance!

Ok if you are thinking that I am just here to speak ill of Singapore’s Ruling Party, you are wrong. I don’t care who’s the ruling party as long as they are doing good for the country. I have a proposal for the Ministry which could take immediate effect if the Ministry wants.

1. Firstly STOP streaming totally. Make it fair for all.
2. Let everyone sit for GCE ‘O’ Level after 4 years of Secondary Education.
3. Restructure ITE’s courses. Offer them Diplomas instead of just certification.
   For those without GCE ‘O’Level but with GCE ‘N’ level, let them go through foundation courses which will then allow them to continue with the Diploma programmes.
4. Total time spent at ITE may go up to 5 years, but it’s worth it. Upon graduation they have a choice to further study at a University. Be it local, foreign or distant learning. At least they have a better future this way. Don’t think they pay enough? Raise the ITE fees to the same standard as Polytechnics! Again, this will make it fair for all, won’t it? Convert ITE into a tertiary level education.

So what will the total time spent if a Singaporean Male end up in ITE?

GCE ‘O’ level(assuming they had not retained any years.) + ITE Diploma + National Service + Basic Degree (Given Diploma exemptions) = 16 + 5 + 2 + 2 = 25 Years Old!

A proposed study path is shown below:

Click to enlarge

This will just be 2 years later then JC or Polytechnic graduates! There is still hope for the ITE students now isn’t there? The calculation of age is done with the assumption that there are no idling period. So I’ve said my mind. Its up to the Ministry to take action. With this new system, I believe there won’t be parents screaming at the government for wasting their kid’s life.

Regards,
Deen Yusoff