IBM, ITE and 5 polytechnics sign MOU to prepare students for ‘new collar jobs’ in ICT

SINGAPORE – Tech giant IBM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and the five polytechnics in Singapore to roll out a new specialised learning programme to prepare students with skills required for competitive “new collar” jobs ranging from cybersecurity, cloud computing and digital design, data analytics and artificial intelligence.

The P-TECH School Model (Pathways in Technology Early College High-Schools) will be offered at ITE, from January 2019 with an intake of at least 40 students for a start. The graduates may then continue with the programme at Nanyang Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic or Temasek Polytechnic.

The target is to scale it up to 120 students across all three ITE campuses.

P-TECH graduates will also be “first-in-line” for interviews for available entry-level jobs with their assigned industry partner, said IBM in response to TODAY’s queries.

“Offering ‘first in line for jobs’ ensures a level of responsibility on the part of the company to ensure students are well-prepared. It signals to students that the industry believes in their abilities, which offers motivation and inspiration,” added the spokesperson.

Unlike in the current ITE partnership with industry players – which tends to offer more “ad-hoc” internships and work opportunities – ITE’s chief executive Low Khah Gek said that under the P-TECH model, they will be given the early exposure to jobs in the infocomm tech (ICT) sector and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines “from day one”, and it is a long term commitment.

For instance, students can go into a track knowing that it will get them ready for a cybersecurity analyst job at IBM, said Mr David Raper, lead of  corporate citizenship at IBM (Asia Pacific and Greater China Group).

“As they move through the programme, they experience the technical learning of what it would take to become a cybersecurity analyst and workplace curriculum that progressively gets more and more intense,” he said.

He added it will be a “real value-add” that will also be a confidence builder for students.

Singapore will be the first country in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to launch P-TECH – and the fifth globally, after being implemented in the United States, Morocco, Australia and Taiwan.

With the “global skills crisis” where employers are increasingly “crippled” by a workforce whose skills have not kept pace with change and in fast-growing fields like the tech industry, IBM Asia Pacific’s CEO and chairman Harriet Green said such a programme could address the high demand for “very specific skill sets” which may not necessarily require a university degree.

Last month, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung had also spoken of developing an education system that combines the “best parts of the Singapore and Swiss systems”, one that helps uncover various interest – such as in a technical or craft-based profession – which may or may not involve a university education.

Mr Ong – who witnessed the MOU signing on Monday (July 9) at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre –  had also said that beyond academic programmes, Singapore’s education system should also include other professional studies, applied learning pathways and work-learn degree programmes modelled after the Swiss system.

Entry criteria into the P-TECH School Model programme are still being worked out, but will be based on an aptitude test and passion towards an ICT or STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subject.

Started by IBM in 2011 in New York, the P-TECH model has grown to more than 90 P-TECH schools across the US and other countries, with more than 450 participating businesses, such as software firm SAP, telecoms company Motorola and IT company Fujitsu.