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From school dropouts to top ITE graduates

SINGAPORE — Ms Kwok Jia Wan had one year left in her mass communications course at Republic Polytechnic when she dropped out to pursue her make-up and hairstyling dreams.

ITE graduates Kwok Jia Wan and Lim Hwee Meng. Photos: Esther Leong/TODAY

ITE graduates Kwok Jia Wan and Lim Hwee Meng. Photos: Esther Leong/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — Ms Kwok Jia Wan had one year left in her mass communications course at Republic Polytechnic when she dropped out to pursue her make-up and hairstyling dreams.

Ever since discovering her passion for cosmetology at the tender age of 13 – being the designated hairstylist among her secondary school friends – the 24-year-old Toni & Guy hairstylist had always known that this was the right path for her.

On Tuesday (July 25), Ms Kwok was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medal at the ITE graduation ceremony, after having emerged the top student in her course on hair and scalp therapy, and in ITE College East with a 3.9 GPA.

Nearly 14,000 ITE students graduated this year, with guest-of-honour Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), gracing Tuesday’s event.

Ms Kwok told TODAY that her path to being an outstanding student was unconventional.

After scoring 19 points for her O-Level exams, she considered taking up hair and beauty courses in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), only to be met with harsh disapproval from her family and friends.

“There was a lot of stigma surrounding ITE education. They said that people who ‘couldn’t study’ went there and that I was wasting my grades,” said Ms Kwok.

“After hearing people say that at a time when I wasn’t mature enough to make my own decisions, ITE was out of my consideration.”

Having no inclination towards maths and science courses, she opted for mass communications at Republic Polytechnic as it was “the least boring subject”.

However, Ms Kwok found herself at the crossroads when she started contemplating about her career prospects.

After some thought, she realised that mass communications was “not (her) thing” and eventually decided to drop out of Republic Polytechnic.

She then attempted an administrative job for three months, before deciding that a “desk-bound job” was not her cup of tea.

Her journey as a cosmetology student kicked off when she pursued an advanced diploma at Top to Toe College of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology in the same year.

Students were required to bring their own models to class to hone their make-up and hairstyling skills – sometimes even inviting strangers to be their subjects.

That proved to be useful, as she went on to work at Sasa for two years as a make-up artist, where she had an average of 10 clients per day.

“I started thinking of all the possibilities. I thought of combining hairstyling and make-up, so I can open my own salon in the future,” she said.

That was when she took up the “Hair and Scalp Therapy” course at ITE College East, and joined the Community Service Club for Hair Services in school.

While she was eager to learn, other students slowed down her learning progress at times.

“I was the oldest student in my course, while my classmates were only 17 or 18. As most of them were only there to pass time and didn’t really want to learn, I started to get a bit annoyed,” she said.

Despite these setbacks, Ms Kwok was a straight-A student and landed herself an internship at Toni & Guy in her second year at ITE.

She now works as a full-time hairstylist at the same Toni & Guy outlet in Rochester Mall.

Mr Lim Hwee Meng, 39, has a similar success story. After failing his Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), he joined a vocational institute – only to miss his first-year exams as he had made up his mind to stop studying then.

While working at a factory after National Service, Mr Lim realised that he was “losing out to others” in terms of salary and promotional opportunities.

He quit his job in the factory and was enrolled in the army as a regular for 11 years, before deciding to pursue a part-time security technology course at ITE College West.

At Tuesday’s ceremony, Mr Lim graduated with the e2i Gold Medal, which aims to increase employability among adult learners. He currently works at Value Add System & Technology as a field technician.

“The world is constantly evolving. In 10 or 20 years years, you might be left behind. Even though you might feel that a certificate is not worth it now, the environment will change and you’ve to prepare yourself,” Mr Lim said.

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