29 December 2020
A greater number of students and parents are now more aware that they should refrain from blindly chasing after “brand name” schools. The Education Ministry has poured resources into ensuring that every school has its niche strengths and that neighbourhood schools, too, have state-of-the-art facilities and talented teaching staff.
However, older and more established schools are likely to have more involved alumni networks that can provide career exposure opportunities like internships for their students. In contrast, newer schools are less experienced in building alumni networks to help organise such programmes.
It is precisely to bridge the gap in access to education and career guidance opportunities across schools that non-profit organisation Access Singapore was started last year. Access Singapore works with schools like Northbrooks Secondary, Naval Base Secondary and Jurongville Secondary. It brings in companies, such as logistics provider Ninja Van, cyber security firm Kaspersky Lab and consulting firm PwC, to provide office tours, career talks and other career-exposure programmes for students.
Another venture that Access Singapore may wish to explore is having more established schools partner with another school in the vicinity, so that programmes involving alumni are open to both. Talks from alumni can then be held at both schools. Alumni from the older school can also share resources and best practices to help the partner school build up its own network.