Institute of Technical Education


The Institute of Technical Education ; is a public vocational education institution agency in Singapore that provides pre-employment training to secondary school graduates, and continuing education and training to working adults. ITE offers apprenticeships for the skilled trades and diplomas in vocational education for skilled technicians and workers in support roles in professions such as engineering, accountancy, business administration, nursing, medicine, architecture, and law. Established by Ministry of Education, it was formerly known as Vocational and Industrial Training Board. ITE has three colleges that offer the National ITE Certificate, Higher NITEC, and Technical Diploma and Work-Study Diploma.

History

1960s to 1970s: Vocational and Industrial Training Board (VITB)

During the 1960s and 1970s, vocational training was managed by two separate statutory boards, the Adult Education Board and the Industrial Training Board. They merged in 1979 to become the VITB. The VITB was formed to promote and develop vocational training.

1992: Institute of Technical Education (ITE)

The ITE was established as a post-secondary institution to improve the employability of vocational trainees and to restructure the VITB's programmes. The government decided that every student in Singapore had to have at least 10 years of general education, with technically inclined students filtered to the Normal stream in secondary schools as preparation. These students would then attend the ITE after they finished secondary school education.
Annually, ITE takes in 25% of an annual school cohort, or an intake of about 13,000 students per year, with an annual enrollment of about 25,000. Full-time students are typically secondary school graduates with the requisite GCE 'N' or 'O' level qualifications.
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Colleges

To refine technical education in Singapore, the "One ITE System, Three Colleges" Model of Education and Governance was introduced in 2005 to merge the 10 ITE's into 3 regional colleges. ITE College West, ITE Headquarters, ITE College West and ITE College West were merged into ITE College West while ITE College Central, ITE College Central, ITE College Central, ITE College Central and ITE College Central were merged into ITE College Central.

Awards

ITE has won a number of local awards as well as international awards. In 2005, it became the first educational institution to be awarded the Singapore Quality Award by Spring Singapore. This award is awarded to world-class organisations that demonstrate the highest standards of business excellence. ITE has also won the Public Service Distinguished Award, awarded by the Prime Minister's office in 2010, as well as the Singapore Innovation Class, awarded by Spring Singapore in 2011.
In 2007, among 30 countries that participated, ITE won the inaugural Harvard-IBM Innovations Award in Transforming Government. This prestigious award was conferred by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation of Harvard University and recognises ITE's programmes as having a profound impact on the lives of citizens.

Notable alumni