SINGAPORE - More Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students will be given the chance to move on to polytechnics from academic year (AY) 2027, as part of efforts to expand pathways and choices for students.

Those pursuing a Higher Nitec qualification at ITE will be guaranteed admission to a polytechnic course related to their Higher Nitec course, if they attain a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or above, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Friday. 

It expects about 1,000 students – the top 10 per cent of Higher Nitec graduates – to benefit from this change yearly.

This number is more than the current 900 graduates a year across 18 courses who qualify for polytechnic under the Direct-Entry-Scheme to Polytechnic Programme (DPP). The DPP was introduced in 2013 as a pathway for Normal (Academic) stream students to progress to the polytechnics.

With the removal of the Normal and Express labels under full subject-based banding in secondary schools in 2024, the DPP pathway in its current form will cease from ITE’s AY2028 intake. 

Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, who announced the change on Friday during ITE’s graduation ceremony at its Ang Mo Kio headquarters, said: “With this, all ITE upgraders are eligible to access a guaranteed place in polytechnic based on their efforts in ITE, regardless of past performance or entry point in ITE.

“For example, any student from the Higher Nitec in Accounting will get a place in a mapped course, such as the Diploma in Banking and Finance, if he or she meets the GPA requirement.” 

The MOE said this is part of a broader set of changes to the admissions requirements for ITE and polytechnics. 

Today, most Higher Nitec students who progress to polytechnics attain a net GPA of 2.5 and above, including bonus points for co-curricular activities, it said. 

Thus, the minimum GPA for ITE students to qualify for polytechnics will be raised from 2 to 2.5, from the AY2027 polytechnic intake. This is to ensure students can better cope with the academic rigour of a polytechnic education, MOE said. 

Apart from a polytechnic diploma, Higher Nitec graduates also have the option of upgrading via the work-study diploma and technical diploma programmes, which offer more hands-on training. 

By 2025, both pathways will offer 1,800 places, up from 1,400 currently. 

The MOE also announced that from AY2028, secondary school students who want to enter the second year for all Higher Nitec courses, which are typically three years long, will need to take a G2 suite of subjects. This is equivalent to the current Normal (Academic) subjects.

Students who take a combination of G2 and G3 subjects can also apply to join a Higher Nitec course from the second year, as long as they attain an ELMAB3 (English language, mathematics and best three subjects) aggregate score of 19 points or better. 

Currently, Higher Nitec courses are accessible to O-level students, a limited number of Normal (Academic) students via the DPP and Nitec students, said MOE. 

The ministry added: “Taken together, the revised admissions requirements to post-secondary pathways will expand access to upgrading opportunities, provide more flexibility and better recognise students’ strengths and interests, while ensuring academic rigour and students’ ability to cope with the curriculum.” 

Secondary schools, ITE and the polytechnics will provide education and career guidance (ECG) for students.Those who need more support can approach their teachers, lecturers or ECG counsellors for help.

A passion for food

ITE on Friday gave out awards to 17 top graduates, out of 14,091 students in the Class of 2023. 

One of the top graduates is Mr Muhammad Cairel Razali. He won the Singapore Business Federation Gold Medal, which is given to the top graduates of the technical engineer diploma or technical diploma programme. 

In August, he will be the first from his technical diploma course in culinary arts to head to the Institut Lyfe in France, to pursue a master’s in culinary leadership and innovation. 

The 25-year-old, whose father is a delivery rider and whose mother works as a secretary in a law firm, knew that studying with books was not his cup of tea.

At the start of Secondary 5, he withdrew from school after completing his N levels.

Inspired by his late grandmother’s cooking, he enrolled in ITE’s Nitec in Western Culinary Arts course. “I helped her out in the kitchen by stirring the pot or preparing ingredients, or just watching what she did,” said Mr Cairel, who has two siblings. His eldest brother died in a road accident in 2017. 

After completing his Nitec in 2016, Mr Cairel applied for ITE’s technical diploma in culinary arts, but did not make the cut.

He did his national service, and tried enrolling again.

“I told the lecturer during the interview that I had been rejected once, but I was back to prove him wrong,” he said. “Since he took me, I wanted to make the best of it.” 

“I realised along the way that I didn’t really want to be a chef… I wanted to do something different and have a more macro perspective of the food service industry,” said Mr Cairel, who has been working as a delivery rider to save up for his course in France, which will cost €22,000 (S$32,500).

He has also received a €5,000 scholarship from the French Embassy in Singapore.

He hopes to gain experience in different countries across Europe, and come back to Singapore to set up a food consultancy business.