Chairman's Message


Many school leavers today find the polytechnic route attractive as it not only prepares them for employment in the industry of their choice but also gives them a broad and solid foundation to pursue a university education. This can be attributed to the nature of the polytechnic curriculum which focuses on applied learning and gives the learner a wide range of choices in terms of courses, areas of specialisation, learning methods and campus facilities.

Increasingly, polytechnics are perceived by many to be dynamic and exciting places to learn and acquire the necessary skills to be relevant to the market in a fast changing and technology-driven world. This is reflected in the growing numbers of young people who opt for polytechnics each year even as their choices for higher education widen with many public and private institutions offering diploma courses as well.

That polytechnic education has become the preferred choice among young people means that each polytechnic will have to work even harder to improve its offering of courses as well as stand out from the others in Singapore by having a distinct identity and character of its own. Republic Polytechnic’s (RP) efforts to succeed in both are evident in its achievements since it moved to its permanent campus in Woodlands in March last year.

At the heart of RP’s educational philosophy is the belief that we should engage students fully in learning. Acting on this belief, RP organized its first International PBL Symposium in March this year which received support from academics worldwide. In addition to this wonderful achievement, RP also won for itself awards that recognized its efforts in harnessing technology for effective learning (TEC Innovation Service Award) as well as its pro-environment initiatives in campus design (Green Mark Award). In many competitions and community related events, RP students made their mark with their trademark teamwork skills and confident demeanour. All these speak well of the leadership and the commitment of staff to build an enduring and endearing institution that does things differently.

I congratulate RP management and staff for having done well in the past twelve months and wish RP a great year ahead.

 

Lee Hsien Yang
Chairman, Board of Governors
Republic Polytechnic