Fewer polytechnic courses amid efforts to improve students' job prospects

23 Jul 2019

 News clip highlighted that polytechnics have merged and revamped courses to target high-growth areas and improve students' job prospects. In the past two years, the number of courses has fallen from 230 to 200, and the total intake has dipped by 8% due to decreasing cohort sizes. TP has merged the BioMedical Science and BioTechnology diplomas to form a new course, Medical Biotechnology. Zhang Pengchi, TP's Course Chair for Medical Biotechnology, shared that the merger was due to the less distinct differentiation in career options for the two diplomas.  TP student Nicolette Chan opined that the Medical Biotechnology course equipped her with the right skills to prepare her for the workforce. NYP merged the Chemical & Green Technology and Chemical & Pharmaceutical Technology diplomas to shift its focus towards environmental innovations. The new course will lean towards creating more sustainable chemical products, said Yow Kum Pang, NYP Deputy Director, School of CLS. Students in the older diplomas, like Koh Jin Hao, were assured that they would also get to learn about sustainable processes and will not lose out at job opportunities.  SP, on the other hand, added Common Entry Programmes (CEP) in Business and Infocomm Technology. Two hundred students pioneered the Common Business Programme this year. Angela Koh, Course Chair, Common Business Programme, shared that the CEP programme gives students more time to decide the areas of specialisation they wish to pursue. This way, even fewer students are expected to switch courses midway. 

[Channel NewsAsia]