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In a milestone for Teacher Work Attachment (TWA), the collaboration between Ministry of Education (MOE) and National University of Singapore (NUS) Enterprise gives teachers a chance to work in both local and overseas start-up companies over a sustained attachment period.
Following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between MOE and NUS Enterprise on 15 Oct 2004, 16 teachers successfully completed the six-month, once-a-week local attachment last year. The agreement has now been expanded to include a short-term overseas attachment. This year, three teachers set off for their attachment in Silicon Valley for the 2006 Singapore Technology Venture Showcase organised by NUS Enterprise.
Ms Wee Siew Bee was sent to help the NUS Venture Support in their planning and organising of the 2006 Singapore Technology Venture Showcase held at Silicon Valley from 15-17 March 2006. Meanwhile, another teacher, Ms Tay Siu Hua, was involved in preparing the Delegates Information booklet and the speakers and presenters’ nametags.
Enterprising Work
Ms Tay visited the NUS@Silicon Valley office on March 14 and understood how it provides a range of support and services for NUS start-ups entering US market via its business center facilities. She noted with interest how Cisco occupies an entire campus, “as large as Toa Payoh town!”
There was encouragement and support among the start-up companies throughout preparations. The 2006 Singapore Technology Venture Showcase comprises 12 start-up companies who are marketing themselves to Venture Capitalists and Siew Bee felt “privileged to be part of the team in putting the showcase together.”
According to Ms Wee, the teachers felt proud to contribute in this collaboration between the NUS Venture Support staff and the start-up companies.
“The showcase may be just a one day event,” elaborated Ms Wee, “but careful planning and preparation of the event started in Singapore way before we took off to the valley.”
Venturing Out
This short-term work attachment has provided our teachers with the opportunity to stay connected to the changing needs of the world and to collaborate with NUS Venture Support in encouraging our start-ups to venture beyond Singapore.
For a teacher like Siew Bee, it has been a refreshing experience to go beyond the classroom and Singapore, “to broaden (her) horizon, gain knowledge outside the text and bring back a passion for learning to (her) students.”
She added, “I will continue to share with them and encourage them to follow their passion and not fashion, to take pride in developing innovative ideas and products, and to showcase them locally and overseas.”
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Overall, both teachers felt strongly about how this attachment has definitely connected MOE with NUS Enterprise and future collaboration will serve to further boost ties and benefit students.
Ms Tay elaborated, “This attachment has given me a better understanding of entrepreneurship. Networking platforms brings about a clearer perspective of the motivation that drives the passion of individual start-up companies.”
During the interaction with NUS College students who are on internship attachments at Silicon Valley, she realised that all of the students appreciate the opportunities. “They shared how their working on team projects has moulded them to be more confident and innovative individuals,” reveals Ms Tay.
She further suggested seeking NUS Venture Support assistance for possible holiday work attachments for students in start-up companies. “Students can attend showcases and conferences organised for start-ups,” noted Ms Tay. |
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These teachers have admitted to a wealth of knowledge and sharing that they have been exposed to during this attachment. On the one hand, this allows them to introduce some of the technology available in the market to the school and to suggest collaboration efforts with start-ups to provide talks for our pupils on entrepreneurship.
In fact, Ms Tay is inviting a student returning from Silicon Valley to speak to her pupils. She said, “I felt that this sharing would encourage pupils to seek out different pathways to pursue a University degree. Besides, pupils will also be able to appreciate the drive and motivation behind his attachment in Silicon Valley.”
She has seen for herself that Venture Capitalists do assess the quality of presentation and the scope of the business idea. “They are more interested in start up companies that have global than regional impact,” noted Ms Tay. |
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