1. A very good afternoon to all of you, industry partners and school partners.
2. Before we started the Partnerships Engagement Office (PEO), some schools had already taken the initiative to partner with community partners and industry partners. Since its formal launch a year ago, over 150 companies have joined us. I thank you all for being pioneers in this journey.
3. Years ago, when considering how to better educate, train, and inspire our students, we quickly realised that MOE does not have the monopoly on knowledge, or the latest cutting-edge ideas in the industry. Our students want to learn in context, and understand why they are studying certain subjects, ‘Why do I need to learn fractions and decimal places’, to ‘why do I need to learn how to titrate some chemicals and all that?’ When they realise the context in which their knowledge will be applied, their eyes light up with understanding, and you can see the eureka moment of ‘aha, this is why I want to learn’. This is why this idea of the PEO was born. It is important for us to acknowledge with humility that that we do not have all the answers, but by working with partners like you, we can grow the next generation of students.
4. Many of you have come up with programmes that exceeded my initial expectations. When we first started this programme, I thought, well one of the simplest and most straightforward ways was for the industries to come in and perhaps give some talks to our students. Perhaps open up your companies for them to take a peek. But you have all surprised me, many times over. Not only have you opened up your companies for our teachers to visit, but some of you have also opened your doors and offer Teachers Work Attachment Plus (TWA+), allowing our teachers to have the opportunity to work within your companies and with your teams. Through this process, they have learnt something, grown professionally, and brought knowledge and networks back to their schools. Today, some of you are in partnerships with NIE and AST, and various schools to do exactly that. The payoff is not just inspiring that one particular teacher. For every teacher you inspire, that one teacher will inspire hundreds of students, and that is the power of what we are able to do with your partnership and leadership.
5. For students, my hope at best was for students to be able to visit companies and to observe their future working environments. But again, you have surpassed my expectations. Many of you today did not just open your companies, your doors to the students. What was most inspiring for me was to see that you provided the opportunity for your staff to work with our students, to mentor them and to inspire them to look forward to your industry.
6. Many of our students do not just want knowledge at a very surface level. When they decide where do they want to work in, and how they want to contribute in the future, they want to be inspired by the company’s mission. They want to feel in touch with the company’s leadership and culture.
7. Mentorship and leadership are so very important especially for students from the less privileged backgrounds. For many of them, the biggest challenge is not about financial access – for that, we can try to find donors and the funds to help them. What they truly need is a sense of trust, respect and also someone who can believe in them, someone who will guide them. This is why I really want to thank all of you for allowing your staff to undertake this very challenging and yet fulfilling journey with us.
8. Many of these relationships have deepened, with your staff becoming informal mentors to our students. You are not just teaching them about the specific industry, but instilling important work ethics and dispositions that will serve them well in their future careers. This is the power of what you all have been able to help us with.
9. This inaugural session is just the beginning. We hope to continue this every year, to thank many more partners like yourself to join our cause. It truly takes a village to raise a child. We understand that we do not have the monopoly of all the connections and knowledge we truly need to mobilise partnership in the community and in the industry. This has been a learning journey for all of us. We are now inspired to make sure that our professional development programmes impart the ability and skillset to work with partners, over and beyond the pedagogical skillset that every teacher must have. When we know that there are people like yourself standing ready to support our teachers, sharing with them your networks and knowledge, our teachers will be inspired to pick up new skillsets to partner you – and be assured they are not alone in this journey of education.
10. Some initial partnerships were bumpy, but over time, I think both sides have gotten to know one another better, and both sides have been able to bring the collaborations to the next level.
11. As we move forward, I hope you will continue to partner with us, providing feedback on how MOE can improve both our partnerships and our teaching methods.
12. Our country's competitiveness depends on how quickly we can connect frontier industry practices with what we teach in schools. In Singapore, we never compete on the basis of our size or skill – but the speed with which we can connect frontier industry practices - which will enable our students to acquire skill sets and dispositions way ahead of time, even before they enter the workforce. With your partnership, I am confident that MOE will continue to move in the right direction in teaching and training and preparing our next generation to be truly future-ready. Thank you.