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Ms Malini Thyageasan, the recipient of the President Award for Teachers with President of Singapore, Mdm Halimah Yacob
Congratulations to Ms Malini Thyagesan for being conferred the President’s Award for Teachers 2023 — the highest accolade in the teaching profession. The prestigious award recognises outstanding and experienced educators like Ms Malini, who have demonstrated their dedication and hard work in nurturing our young.
Ms Malini is a Senior Lecturer at Republic Polytechnic School of Applied Science, teaching Biomedical Science. Her admiration for medical technologists, the unsung heroes of healthcare, led her to pursue her polytechnic education in biomedical science. She went on to become a lecturer with the hope of sharing her expertise and passion, to guide and inspire students with similar interests.
Recognising that every student is unique, Malini adopts different strategies to engage her classes. Whether it is through storytelling or gamification, she strives to provide a positive learning environment for her students. Malini also integrates EdTech tools such as 360 video of histology lab and virtual reality of pre-analytical lab in her lessons to ensure that students can “visualise and experience a real medical laboratory setting at their own pace”. She hopes that her classes “provides a safe environment for students to express themselves, ask questions, make mistakes, and learn from their mistakes.”
Over her 12 years in RP, Malini has left an indelible mark on numerous students, and in turn, they have also left memorable experiences for Malini. Malini fondly recalled that during one of the final lessons of the Clinical Chemistry module, her students came to her office and sought her assistance with a project. In a heart-warming gesture, the students organised a pizza party and invited her to join them. “They actually waited for me to take a slice before they started eating. While this may seem like a small gesture, but to me, this gesture speaks volumes about the gratitude and the strong bond formed over the semester”, Malini said.
Here’s to more pizza parties and continued success, Malini!
The full list of the President’s Award for Teachers 2023 and past recipients is available on our website: https://www.rp.edu.sg/president-award-for-teachers
You can catch Ms Malini’s interview on her achievements at the following links: