SINGAPORE – Ahead of the O-level results release on Jan 11, the five polytechnics here bustled with activity as they held their open houses to showcase their strengths and new facilities.
Groups of secondary school students – in organised school groups or among friends – thronged the campuses to find out more.
Artificial intelligence (AI) proved to be a big theme in 2024. Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic featured their newly launched AI-related facilities at their open houses.
All polytechnics also upped the fun factor, highlighting their co-curricular activities (CCAs) or, in the case of Nanyang Polytechnic, turning its open house into a wonderland.
Based on a 2021 report in The Straits Times, about half of O-level holders end up taking the polytechnic route.
ST rounds up some of the must-knows about the polytechnics and their new offerings.
Nanyang Polytechnic
What it is known for:
Opened in 1992, Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) is known for its School of Health and Social Sciences (SHSS), which offers full-time diploma courses in nursing, oral health therapy, and social work.
Students there train in the school’s various facilities such as a general ward, operating theatre and intensive care unit, where real-life hospital cases are simulated.
At NYP’s Centre for Connected Care, which showcases different technology to deliver nursing care in patients’ homes, SHSS students are trained in best practices to provide good long-term care at home for patients needing acute care.
NYP has been transitioning its diploma courses to the professional competency model, where students gain skills and competencies through work tasks, instead of as separate subjects.
Industry partners are heavily involved in the creation of curriculum, teaching of subjects, mentorship in projects, and certification.
What’s new in 2024:
From the 2024 academic year, NYP’s School of Business Management will offer the professional competency model for its seven diploma programmes, which cover areas like finance, fintech, hospitality and accounting. The curricula have been co-developed with industry players such as Unilever Food, Marina Bay Sands and the Institute for Human Resource Professionals.
Ms Doris Teh, director of the School of Business Management, said this model of teaching will offer students a great advantage “because there is context and they can see how to apply the skills in an actual real-world situation”.
She added: “They are ready to go from Day 1.”
Open house highlights:
NYP transformed its campus to a whimsical wonderland based on different fictional universes, such as Wizards’ Convention or Pixelverse to represent its different schools.
Adding a touch of fantasy, its night programme on Jan 5 included performances that featured lights. For example, the Flight of the Firefly by the NYP Dance Company had students wearing mini lights to simulate fireflies in the night.
NYP principal and chief executive Russell Chan said students contributed ideas for the creative and imaginative elements of the open house.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic
What it is known for:
Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s (NP) mass communications course, Singapore’s most established media diploma, and its business programme are well known.
Additionally, students at NP can embark on their own “personalised learning pathway” (PLP), a programme that began in 2021. Students can design their own cross-discipline learning path, choosing from 11 PLP minors, which include data analytics and AI, Internet of Things or user experience design.
NP’s class of 2023 was the first cohort where students graduated with a diploma with a minor.
What’s new in 2024:
A specialisation in generative AI for students taking the diploma in data science will be rolled out in the first semester of the 2024/2025 academic year. This complements the existing specialisation in data engineering.
Students specialising in generative AI can expect to take modules in deep learning, generative AI tools, techniques and solutions to generative AI problems, as well as learn to manage the financial and ethical aspects of using AI.
NP has also opened a Generative AI Hub, a dedicated space that allows students, alumni and business partners to showcase their AI-related work.
At the open house, current data science students showcased their generative AI work, such as face-swopping software and AI image-editing programs.
Open house highlights:
Student winners of NP’s Be Your Own Boss initiative received grants of up to $5,000 to operate food stalls, which sold offerings such as acai bowls and Japanese cuisine.
Republic Polytechnic
What it is known for:
Singapore’s youngest polytechnic, established in 2002, is known for its sports science courses and for being the only poly to have a dedicated School of Hospitality.
Another plus: Its diverse hands-on courses in various industries, such as the diploma in arts and theatre management and diploma in environmental and marine science.
Also worth noting is the poly’s entrepreneurial immersion programme, where students can work on their business ideas instead of serving an internship.
One successful business to have emerged from this programme was Kuehs And Rolls, a food and beverage business on campus selling Korean kimbap and Malay kueh. The stall is operated by business students currently in their third year.
What’s new in 2024:
A Talent Advancement Programme for School of Hospitality students was launched on Jan 4. If they are successfully placed in the programme in their second year, students will get a mentor from a partner company who will coach them before they embark on part-time or full-time roles during holiday breaks.
In the third year, students will do a 40-week internship, similar to those offered by American or European universities with hospitality courses.
Graduates from this programme may receive offers of bond-free full-time employment at a higher position and up to 10 per cent more remuneration.
Starting from academic year 2024, all School of Engineering students will learn how to fly a drone. They will be officially certified to fly a drone for recreational and educational purposes after obtaining the Unmanned Aircraft Basic Training certificate, which is approved by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
Open house highlights:
The diploma in environmental and marine science booth had a showcase of both living and dead organisms, and students set up a water tank to show several species of aquatic animals and specimens of horseshoe crabs.
At the diploma in sonic arts booth, visitors tried out an array of sound equipment and created their own sound effects.
Singapore Polytechnic
What it is known for:
Singapore’s oldest polytechnic, which celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2024, is known for its engineering courses.
Singapore Polytechnic (SP) has implemented the “flipped learning” concept – students watch pre-recorded lectures on their own time before meeting up for face-to-face tutorials. This is to encourage students to be active learners.
What is also popular among students is its Learning Express programme, a two-week overseas version of the polytechnic’s Sustainable Innovation Project, which emphasises the use of design thinking in problem-solving.
Students are drawn by the overseas exposure – they work with students from partner institutions in South-east Asia, Japan and China on projects such as helping farming communities to make the most of their crops or using technology to boost their productivity and yields.
The Learning Express programme started in 2013 and is open to 1,000 students a year.
What’s new in 2024:
To meet industry demand for jobs in the clean energy sector and to support the Singapore Green Plan 2030, SP is offering a new sustainable energy specialisation for 2024/2025 first-year students enrolling in its diploma in electrical and electronic engineering programme.
When these students are in their third year, the new specialisation will be among their options. Among the areas covered under the specialisation are hydrogen technology, as well as energy storage.
Dr Lim Joo Ghee, director of SP’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, estimates that about 40 students per year will choose the new specialisation, which will prepare them for clean energy sector roles such as solar photovoltaic design engineer or renewable energy specialist.
Open house highlights:
A refreshed SP Industry and Innovation Showcase highlighted student projects, many of which involved industry partners, across different schools that focused on technology and sustainability. Projects featured included a machine that simulated barista skills to create pour-over coffee and a train driving simulator.
Temasek Polytechnic
What it is known for:
Established in 1990, Temasek Polytechnic (TP) is the only polytechnic to offer a law diploma in Singapore that prepares students for roles such as court officers or legal executives.
It is also known for its design school, which offers various diplomas including the diploma in apparel design and merchandising, the only fashion course offered by a polytechnic. This course teaches the business of fashion, from design to brand-building and retail.
What’s new in 2024:
Opened on Jan 3, TP’s first experimental design studio – Interactive Digital Experiments with AI Studio – is housed in its School of Design.
Conceived as a space for students to brainstorm ideas for their schoolwork or projects by tapping generative AI, it features various generative AI software.
For instance, at the station featuring Leonardo.AI software, students can use motion sensors to draw and insert prompts to create generative AI art. At the Firefly by Adobe station, students can input text prompts to generate images. Plans are in the works to incorporate the use of the space into relevant modules.
Open house highlights:
A perennial favourite at TP’s open house is its fashion show by students from its diploma in apparel design and merchandising.
This year’s show featured the works of 2023 graduates, with the clothes curated and the show produced by second-year students. Lecturer Foo Jia Wen said that many of the collections were made using more sustainable practices.
TP’s evening fest on Jan 5 also featured a range of its CCAs, from silat to hip-hop, as well as the culinary skills of students in related diplomas.
Some of the free festival food handed out to open house visitors were prepared by students in the diploma in culinary and catering management course and those in the diploma in food, nutrition and culinary science course.
