The Big Read: ITE sheds 'it's the end' tag after makeover but students, graduates still face prejudice

04 Aug 2023

Last month, MOE announced that ITE students who achieved a grade point average of at least 3.5 in their Higher National ITE Certificate (Nitec) exams would be guaranteed positions in polytechnics, offering more opportunities for ITE graduates to further their education. Other moves to raise ITE’s profile include having the institute host the yearly National Day Rally since 2013, which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said is a signal to the government’s “longstanding commitment to investing in every person to his full potential”. Yet, the institute is still struggling to shake off its image as the school of “last resort”, which experts attribute to the wider societal preference for cognitive or “head” skills over technical or “hands” skills. Although ITE graduates acknowledged that negative stereotypes of them were untrue, the pervasiveness of such perceptions still weighed heavily on their minds even as they progressed to higher levels of education. One alumnus, Mr Mohamad Hilman Mohamad Hatta, who graduated from Higher Nitec in IT systems and networks last year, said that prior to entering SP, he thought that he would not do as well as his peers who graduated with O-Levels. “I constantly had this general feeling of insecurity and kept comparing myself to my coursemates who were not from ITE,” Mr Hilman recalled. However, his fears proved to be misplaced when he found that his ITE education had given him an edge in polytechnic. Similar news reported in Channel News Asia.