New CEOs at ITE and Temasek Polytechnic from December 2025

SINGAPORE – The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) will be getting new chief executives from December 2025.

ITE’s outgoing chief executive Low Khah Gek, who is retiring, will be succeeded by Mr Peter Lam, current principal and chief executive of TP.

The current deputy chief executive of ITE, Mr Patrice Choong, will take over Mr Lam’s position at the polytechnic.

These appointments will take effect from Dec 25, 2025, said ITE and TP in a joint statement on Oct 23.

Ms Low became chief executive of ITE in February 2017. During her tenure, she expanded progression pathways for students, including the 2024 launch of the ITE Progression Award to help graduates attain a diploma.

She led the development and implemention of ITE’s enhanced curriculum, featuring the new three-year Higher Nitec, the growth of Work-Study Diploma programmes and the expansion of technical diplomas with overseas partners.

Ms Low also strengthened industry partnerships, integrated workplace learning into programmes, and was strongly committed to supporting students with financial or special educational needs. She introduced artificial intelligence, sustainability and prompt engineering into the curriculum and promoted a culture of innovation.

Before her ITE appointment, she was the director of the Ministry of Education’s curriculum planning and development division, and was principal of Anderson Secondary School and Victoria Junior College.

Education Minister Desmond Lee said in online posts on Oct 23 that Ms Low had “served with exceptional commitment over the last four decades in the education sector”.

“Khah Gek has played an instrumental role in expanding progression pathways for ITE students, enhancing the career readiness of ITE students and supporting them to upskill, strengthening all-around support for ITE students with additional needs so that no student is left behind,” he said.

Mr Andrew Chong, chairman of the ITE board of governors, said Ms Low was a “passionate champion” of ITE’s applied learning pathway.

“Through her leadership and steadfast commitment, she has transformed the career and technical education landscape – redefining the progression pathways for ITE graduates, strengthening the value proposition of ITE’s work-based and employability-focused vocational education, and entrenching a strong culture of innovation and capability development,” he said.

Mr Chong added that ITE warmly welcomes Mr Lam.

Mr Lam joined TP in July 2016. During his tenure, he led a review of TP’s courses, consolidating full-time diploma programmes and launching more than 110 part-time programmes over nine years. He also introduced joint work-study programmes with autonomous universities and expanded micro-credential initiatives.

Under his leadership, TP expanded its research and consultancy work with both small and medium enterprises and large companies, securing grants and national awards, including clinical trials with companies like Nestle.

The polytechnic also integrated artificial intelligence across diploma courses, opened cross-disciplinary facilities that can be used across different fields of study, and advanced TP’s sustainability goals.

“Mr Lam will be warmly remembered at TP for his authentic leadership, as well as strong commitment to fostering a culture of care to students, staff and the community,” the statement said.

Mr Loke Wai San, chairman of the TP board of governors, said the school is grateful for Mr Lam’s “visionary leadership and unwavering commitment” to the development of the polytechnic.

“His passion for driving innovation in education, creating opportunities for every student to achieve their aspirations, empowering staff to reach their fullest potential and embedding sustainability and a strong spirit of care into TP’s culture has been evident across TP,” he said.

Mr Choong will be appointed principal and chief executive-designate of TP from Nov 1, and formally take over from Mr Lam on Dec 25.

During his two decades in the higher education sector, Mr Choong has held various leadership roles in Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), and pioneered Project OpenCerts, a platform that enabled 15 institutes of higher learning to issue e-certificates.

He also launched a programme at NP to give students internship opportunities in start-ups across 14 cities worldwide, introduced a joint polytechnic incubator, and at ITE, led corporate services and developed an entrepreneurship ecosystem for students and graduates.

Mr Lee said he is looking forward to working with Mr Lam and Mr Choong. “I am confident that they will carry out their new roles with passion and dedication to advance our higher education sector.”