14 July 2021
Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman has completed six months of community engagements to promote better teaching of life skills at the polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education.
Students today need more integration of life skills such as conflict management, resilience and cross-cultural understanding in their curriculum, in order to better prepare them for the complex and rapidly evolving working world.
Dr Maliki’s review of ITE and polytechnic education began in January this year, and has involved around 1,200 students, alumni, educators, parents and employers. The last of these sessions was held last Saturday.
In April, Dr Maliki, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, said that students at the ITE will have their route to advanced certification shortened from four years to three. ITE students also have two industry attachment stints instead of one to strengthen their capabilities.