Mr Eric Gwee, Chairman
ITE Board of Governors

Dr Law Song Seng
Director & CEO of ITE

Distinguished guests

Graduands and parents

Ladies and gentlemen

1             I am very pleased to join you on this special day, to recognize this year's graduates from ITE. This is a significant moment for all of you. You stand at the threshold of the brighter future that you have created through your efforts in education. You, your parents and your teachers can take pride in your achievements.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE
2             Our education system is a key competitive strength for Singapore. We have a strong system, where our schools, ITE, polytechnics and universities together keep in step with the future. They equip our young with the skills to confidently navigate the work environment of the future. Equally important, they nurture our young to be active citizens, contributing to society and serving the community.

3             The ITE is an important part of Singapore's post-secondary education landscape, taking in about 25% of young Singaporeans each year (percent of primary one cohort). It is viewed locally and internationally as an institution of quality, with the ability to produce confident graduates - graduates with a good foundation in technical skills, and who are flexible and resilient. The Government has continued to invest millions of dollars in ITE education, including the building of three ITE regional campuses to offer more ITE places. The first of these regional campuses will be ready in 2005.

4             Since 1992, the ITE has trained and equipped some 70,000 school leavers with a wide range of technical qualifications. This year, more than 8,000 highly skilled ITE graduands will join earlier cohorts and add value to the economy. With their strong technical orientation and skills, they play a key role in our economy's future growth.

5             Today's award winners exemplify the passion and commitment to excellence among our ITE graduates. I would like to mention three examples this afternoon. The first is 19-year-old Li Minyong, this year's Lee Kuan Yew Gold Medallist. Minyong is ITE's star student this year, as well as the top student among his cohort in the Nitec Info-Communications Technology course. He is also very much an all-rounder. Minyong was a member of a team that put together an alert system on Wireless Personal Area Network, that alerts train commuters to alight at their stations, using pocket PCs. Supporting his campus in the National IT Literacy Programme, he organised classes for senior citizens to learn IT skills and as a cyberguide helped teach computer basics. I am told that to improve his leadership skills, he also seized the initiative and joined the Outward Bound Singapore 21-Day Classic Course. The experience opened his eyes to the satisfaction to be derived from helping the disadvantaged.

6             Teo Yoke Ling, the recipient of the Tay Eng Soon Gold Medal for being top among her Higher Nitec in Administration cohort, is another outstanding example of a well-rounded individual. She excels in basketball and captained the ITE West (Clementi) team which emerged champions in this year's ITE Basketball Tournament. Serving on the campus' Entrepreneurship Club has also inspired her to start her own business some day. Toward this end, she is currently pursuing a Diploma in Business Studies at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

7             My third example, Nadra bte Muhamed Basir is one of the pioneering batch of ITE graduates with a Nitec in Multimedia Technology. Nadra is another self-starter whose passion for her chosen area of studies has led her to accomplish more than the ordinary. She initiated the campus's Multimedia group, leading the team to successfully produce a number of well-received digital videos, including the docudrama, 'Beyond the Dawn (A Life of an ITE Student)', which competed at the National Digital Video Competition 2002. She is this year's winner of the Singapore Manufacturers' Federation Medal for overall excellence in the Nitec in Multimedia Technology programme, in recognition of both her academic achievements and her leadership.

KEEPING ITE PROGRAMMES RELEVANT TO THE FUTURE
8             Graduates like Minyong, Yoke Ling and Nadra, as well as the many others who have excelled during their years at ITE, are a source of special pride to their alma mater. They are testimony to the breadth of educational opportunities that are available in our educational institutions to nurture and develop varied talents and abilities. They also attest to the great strides ITE has made over the years in offering quality programmes leading to useful and relevant qualifications and an all-rounded education.

9             ITE's continual review of its curriculum and introduction of new courses ensures that its students are equipped with the up-to-date skills required for a technologically advanced economy. I am pleased that ITE ensures that its courses stay relevant for the future by regularly consulting with employers, government agencies, the unions and its training advisory committees comprising key industry representatives. These reviews ensure that ITE courses not only provide technical knowledge and skills, but also equip students with the thinking, communication and problem-solving skills that they need in the new work environment.

10           In addition to regular curriculum reviews, ITE also conducts major strategic reviews to ensure that its courses are in line with the expected future demands of our economy. The most recent review completed in May this year recommended the introduction of more ICT and Applied & Health Sciences related courses, with a relative reduction in the intake for Engineering and Business related courses. By 2005, ITE will have a total of about 38 courses, up from the current 33, with about 50% of student enrolment in engineering-related courses, 25% in business, 15% in ICT and 10% in Applied and Health Sciences.

11           As a result of this latest review, ITE has also streamlined and regrouped its courses into four broad industry clusters, with the intention of further strengthening its focus and linkages with industry. The reconfiguration and introduction of courses for emerging industries in the area of Services, IT, Biotechnology and High-end Manufacturing will ensure that ITE continues to deliver quality technical manpower to meet the needs of the economy.

12           However, in the knowledge-based world that we now compete in, a key advantage will be our ability to learn continuously, not just while we are at school, ITE, polytechnic or university. Our ability to succeed, as individuals and as a nation, will depend on our capacity to pick up or create new knowledge and skills before old knowledge is obsolete, and to apply it faster than others. Continual learning has become more important than ever before, across the workforce.

13           I am therefore very pleased to note that in July this year ITE launched the Re-skilling for New Economy Workforce or "ReNEW" initiative to ensure the future employability of ITE graduates and working adults. ITE graduates will need to learn and relearn in order to stay responsive, relevant and employable in the new economy. The ReNew scheme will assist ITE graduates to re-skill and upgrade by building on their existing qualifications and experience in the shortest possible time.

CONCLUSION
14           The future is an exciting one. The knowledge-based economy offers many opportunities for those who are willing to work hard, keep learning new skills, and attempt ventures of their own. To the graduands here, I urge you to stay flexible, and adjust quickly to changing trends. Your ITE training has given you a head start. Be willing to adapt, upgrade and retrain and you will do well in the new economic environment.

15           On this note, let me once again congratulate you on your achievements. I would like to specially commend those of you who will be receiving Certificates of Merits and medals for outstanding performance. I wish all of you every success in your future jobs and careers.