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| On 31 July 2004, 256 young
men and ladies took their first big step towards a career in
nurturing the next generation of Singaporeans. They were presented
with teaching scholarships and awards by Education Minister
Tharman Shanmugaratnam. |
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“THIS IS THE first
step towards a challenging and fulfilling career of nurturing
the next generation of Singaporeans,” said Mr Shanmugaratnam.
“It is your ideas, your energy and your guiding hand that will
help the next generation push and redefine the boundaries, and
create new opportunities for themselves and for Singapore.”
So that budding teachers can obtain a range of perspectives
through being exposed to different work environments, selected
top teaching scholars can now take up to one year of “time-off”
on bond suspension to pursue a work attachment or research stint,
instead of pursuing a Master’s straight after completing their
undergraduate studies. This will allow them to gain a more diverse
set of experiences and help them become more well-rounded teachers. |
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Albert Tsui is passionate about working with young
people. While many of his friends were studying
hard during their A-level year, Albert was busy conducting
drama workshops for secondary school students - and loving
every moment of it. “When I work with teenagers, I always
believe that I’m the one learning,” says 19-yearold Albert,
who co-founded a theatre group called Theatrix while still
a student at Victoria Junior College.
Albert desires to develop multidimensional, thinking individuals.
“I want my class to be full of questions. I want them
to challenge ideas… What I really want to achieve is what
my tutors achieved — providing my students with a way,
yet not the only way.”
Albert has been awarded an Education Merit Scholarship
to pursue English Literature and Drama Studies in the
United Kingdom. Reflecting on his chosen path, he says,
“Teachers are the people with the opportunity to develop
intimate relationships with young people. If you want
to bring change to their souls, to their upbringing and
to their values, I think besides parents, no one else
can do it better than teachers.” |
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Nur Izzati Bte Soonan always wanted to teach.
“I’ve always wanted to make a difference in life.
I feel that teaching is one of the most significant ways
you can actually make a difference because you start with
young kids,” says 19-year-old Izzati, who was awarded
an MOE Teaching Scholarship (Local) to study Biology and
Chemistry at the National University of Singapore.
Izzati says her desire to teach revived when she relief
taught for four months after her A levels at Victoria
Junior College. “I got to experience first hand what it’s
like to teach and how to interact with kids of all levels.
The kind of rapport I had with the students was really
amazing. I felt that I was making a difference in their
lives.”
She recalls how a Secondary Three girl from one of her
Normal (Academic) classes told her how happy she was that
Izzati had taught the class. “She told me that she felt
I gave them hope, that they could do something in life.
By just being there and teaching them, they felt that
I had made a difference.” |
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Soh Joon Wei took a long route to becoming a teacher.
Immature and playful during his junior college
days, Joon Wei did not do well in his A-level exams and
had to move on to a polytechnic education. The turning
point came when he volunteered for a mentoring programme
organised by the Singapore Polytechnic.
For half a year, Joon Wei and his
friends spent Saturday mornings at
Fuhua Primary School, where he
coached a Primary Six boy. “He was a
very quiet boy, always keeping to his
own friends and very easily distracted,”
recalls Joon Wei. That experience of
befriending and helping this boy left
such an indelible impression on Joon
Wei that he decided to be a teacher.
“I’m like a big kid myself,” says this
24-year-old. “Because I’ve been through
that stage of being a kid, I know what
they want and what they dislike.”
Joon Wei was awarded an MOE
Teaching Award to
pursue a degree
course in Biology and
Chemistry at the
National University of
Singapore. He hopes
to make a difference
in the lives of his
students one day, by
being both a friend and
teacher to them. |
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