Professor Liu Woon Chia, NIE Director
Associate Professor Chow Jia Yi, Dean, Teacher Education & Undergraduate Programmes
Distinguished guests,
Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1. Good morning, and congratulations to all graduands! To the families, friends, guests and faculty joining us today, thank you for being part of this moment. Today we celebrate not just a milestone, but the beginning of a journey where you, as educators, will shape who your students become – and through them, the society we will all share in future.
2. Teaching requires the art of shaping minds, the courage to ignite curiosity, and the patience to nurture growth. Each of you has chosen to invest in the growth of every child in your care. As you step into this new chapter, carry with you the wisdom of your mentors, the support of your families, and the passion that brought all of you here. We are very proud to welcome you into this noble profession.
The Unique Strength of Your Disciplines
3. Whether in Arts, Music, Physical Education, Mother Tongue Languages, Special Educational Needs, or Counselling, you are each contributing to a different but deeply important aspect of a child's growth. Education is not solely about passing exams, regardless of how it feels like in our society today. Education is about nurturing well-rounded individuals who can express themselves creatively and engage meaningfully with their communities.
4. For those who are teaching Mother Tongue Languages, you are custodians of living heritage. In Singapore's multilingual landscape, our Mother Tongue Languages are vessels of identity, history, tradition and community – you help our students connect with their roots in a world that is increasingly globalised and fast-moving.
5. What makes a great Mother Tongue teacher is the empathy they bring to students who may find the languages challenging. Goh Ya Di, from the Diploma in Chinese Education, exemplifies this. Having navigated the challenges of learning foreign languages herself, she understands deeply with students who struggle with Chinese, and during her practicum turned a student's distress over a poor result into a shared conversation about resilience and growth.
6. Art lessons give students the freedom to explore without a single right answer, fostering individuality and personal confidence. Indra D/O Balakrishnan, from the Diploma in Art Education, shows us what this looks like in practice - using AI-generated surrealistic art videos as visual stimuli to spark imagination and rich discussions. She does not just teach technique; she creates space for every child to think differently.
7. If we ask our students in schools which subjects they are most fond of, many of them will say Physical Education, which is my personal favourite as well. Physical Education lessons are where they learn what it means to be part of a team, to cheer for a classmate, or to try again after falling down. These early experiences of effort, fair play, and self-discipline will shape how they approach challenges in the future.
8. As a Music teacher, all of you will be giving young children a powerful experience of joy and expression. A child who taps out a rhythm or plays a simple melody discovers they can create something beautiful. They also learn patience since a song only comes together after many imperfect attempts.
9. For those working with students with special educational needs, your role is to ensure every child, regardless of background or learning profile, has an equal opportunity to thrive. Yeo Yue, from the Diploma in Special Education, embodies this spirit – making a courageous transition from engineering to teaching students with autism at Pathlight School, helping them acquire the life and work skills they need for greater independence. Her journey is a reminder to have the courage to pursue what you believe in.
10. As counsellors, you are the person that students seek out not for answers, but for someone who will listen without judgement. Many of us hope that they will have parents and family members to go to, and in our schools we have recognised that many of them do need help outside of their families, and this is where our counsellors will come in. Your role will equip them to navigate life's complexities, both academic and personal, during their formative years.
11. Many of your students will not remember what you said to them, but they will remember that you were there in their most troubled times. They will remember that you listened, and that you made them feel less alone. They may not tell you that personally, but many of us who have grown up with such teachers alongside us understand how special feelings are. Your ability to create a safe space for a student who is struggling, and to help them find their footing again, is not just complementary or supplementary to education. It is critical to it.
A Community of Educators
12. As educators, remember that no teacher works alone. The most meaningful impact you will have on your students comes from strong partnerships with your colleagues, parents, caregivers and the wider community. A parent who shares with you that their child is going through a difficult time at home, or a caregiver who flags a change in behaviour, can give you the background and context you need to reach a student you might otherwise have struggled to understand.
13. Be generous with what you know, and never stop learning from those around you – the colleague who has found a way to reach a difficult student, or the mentor who helps you see what you cannot yet see in yourself. Successful educators are not those who have all the answers; they are those who never stop asking questions.
Support for Educators
14. There will be days when the weight of the work feels heavier than you expected, and the experience you have in your classroom does not feel like what you signed up for. There will be students who seem unreachable, parents who are extremely difficult to engage, and moments when you wonder if it is all worth it.
15. On those days, it is okay to feel that weight. Many in this room have felt the same weight and persevered through it. Seek support when you need and give yourself time to breathe. But always remember that your presence matters deeply, especially to the students who need your support. There will also be moments that make your work worthwhile – a former student who reaches out to tell you that something you said or did stayed with them. The student who once struggled but surprised even themselves with what they achieved. It takes a while to reach those moments, but hold on to them when they come.
16. We recognise the demands of teaching, and we are committed to strengthening the teaching profession by managing your workload, supporting your well-being, and rethinking how teachers work. We are trying to use technology and AI to reduce administrative duties and support teachers, and this is all part of building the ecosystem of support so that teachers can focus on what matters most – which is nurturing your students.
17. And as the complexity of teaching grows, so does our commitment to support all of you. We will continue to listen, engage, and adapt – because your voice matters in shaping the future of education.
Closing
18. Do not underestimate the power of small moments. A word of encouragement to a student who is struggling. Staying back after class to listen, not that you have to do it compulsorily but because you want to. When you notice that someone is not quite themselves, these moments cannot be replaced by any technology or any algorithm. They are uniquely human, and they are the moments your students will remember.
19. You will hear us in the Ministry of Education asking you to explore technology and try it out, retain and keep what is most human about being an educator, and carry with you the conviction that education is about the holistic development of the child and the belief in the potential of every student. Each moment you invest in your students will shape who they are becoming. They will grow more creative, more resilient, and more capable of navigating the world with confidence and a desire to contribute.
20. You will not always see the impact of what you do. But trust that it is there. The students who finally feel confident in their mother tongue. The children with special needs who master a skill they once thought was beyond them. The student who walks into your counselling room feeling lost but leaves feeling heard. These are the moments that matter, and you will be part of the reason they happen.
21. Congratulations once again to all our graduands today. You are ready even if you feel not quite ready. All of you have gone through years of training and many of you have practised these skills in the classroom that you are in today. So, go out there and make a difference! I look forward to meeting all of you, as well as your students in the future.
22. Thank you.