) or https:// as an added precaution.1. Good morning to all. Today marks an exciting step forward in our journey to prepare our students and educators for an AI-transformed world.
The Role of Education in an AI-Transformed Future
2. As AI reshapes how we live, learn, and work, being AI-ready is a foundational requirement, increasingly, for all of us. At the very least, we need to learn about AI – what it is, and we need to learn how to use it. For many of us who are in education, you need to think about learning how to learn with AI, and then for those who are now out there in the workforce, you will have to think about what that human value-add is beyond AI.
3. And this is especially so, as AI grows increasingly capable of thinking, writing, and generating ideas, the irreplaceable role of education becomes even clearer. Education must help our learners understand how to use AI, learn with AI and learn beyond AI.
Strengthening AI Readiness in IHLS
4. Our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) play a critical role. Tertiary education is about deepening your knowledge and broadening your horizons. It is so for AI education as well, to deepen AI fluency for students, and to prepare them for the workplace. Across our institutions, we have updated our existing modules to build baseline digital skills, and AI-related competencies. This covers areas such as computational thinking, quantitative reasoning, digital wellbeing and AI ethics.
5. Beyond baseline skills, students need domain-specific exposure. How does AI work in the maritime sector, or in aviation? How does it work in biology? Whether it's engineering, business, or the humanities, all of our students are now learning how AI is used in their fields – from data analytics, research, to design processes. These are things that are powered by AI increasingly. In doing so, our students in the tertiary education space are working with the same AI-assisted workflows.
6. Our IHLs also ensure that students have opportunities to learn beyond AI and develop key soft skills. But, just as critical and just as important as every other skill, are human-centric qualities – helping people work alongside other people, helping people work alongside AI-driven processes. Our IHLs have what we call the LifeSkills framework. Through this, students develop key competencies such as critical thinking, interpersonal and collaboration skills, and innovation. These competencies ensure our graduates can lead and thrive in an AI-transformed world because we don't know how far the automation, digitisation and AI processes are going to extend to the industry, but the need for personal relationships, the need for connection, the need to manage a team and team dynamics; these type of skills are always going to be present.
Why Industry Partnerships Matter
7. With our mission to develop work-ready and future-ready graduates, strong industry partnerships and collaborations are essential in enabling our IHLs and their students to remain connected to industry developments. As industry evolves, the tools that our industry uses, that our IHLs and students are being exposed to, need to evolve and adapt as well. We need to move as industry evolves and develops.
8. This is why we deeply value strong industry support like the one we are celebrating today with Microsoft. Microsoft will provide free Microsoft 365 Premium with Copilot subscriptions for 12 months to every tertiary student in Singapore. This is a very positive move. This means that more than 200,000 enrolled students will gain access to Microsoft 365's full suite of productivity tools, including Copilot, Microsoft's built-in AI assistant.
9. Having access to such AI applications opens up a world of possibilities for our students. You can ask yourself – is there another way of doing this? Is there a way of summarising this? Is there a way of accelerating what I'm doing? You can try how to use AI; you can experiment with different prompts. You can iterate ideas. Students can get a better feel for how to learn and work better with AI – practising that set of skills that they will need within the industry. This will apply to their coursework, as well as their industry projects – and to do so within the safe learning environment of our tertiary education institutions.
Empowering Educators Through AI Training
10. Beyond our students, just as important is providing good support for our educators. Through Microsoft's Elevate for Educators programme, educators will be able to strengthen their AI capabilities while joining a global network of peers who are pioneering AI-enabled teaching methods. The programme offers foundational AI courses, virtual workshops and digital meetups, creating opportunities for our educators to learn, collaborate and share best practices with peers globally.
Conclusion
11. Ultimately, our goal is to build an education system where AI is not only powerful, but also purposeful, values-driven and human-centered. We want AI to amplify learning, to support teachers, and to expand opportunities for students from all backgrounds.
12. I am grateful to our partners, including the team at Microsoft, our educators, parents and students, for your strong partnership in this journey.
13. Thank you.