SAF, NYP FORMALISE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP

When 1st Warrant Officer (1WO) Chua Wee Giap stepped into a classroom in October last year, it was the first time he did so in 20 years.

1WO Chua was one of 27 warrant officers and specialists (WOSpecs) studying for a diploma at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and the tertiary institute. At the end of his two-year programme, the Regimental Sergeant Major trainer of the Singapore Armed Forces' (SAF's) Motorised Infantry Training Institute will be equipped with skills in areas such as supply chain management, event planning, public relations and communications management.

The collaboration, which began back in 1995, was formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Partnership in Education by Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General (LG) Neo Kian Hong and Principal & Chief Executive Officer of NYP Chan Lee Mun at NYP on 4 May.

Noting that the SAF has to be adaptive, nimble in its ability to act and think, as well as resilient in the face of a more complex and challenging environment, LG Neo said: "Our people will also have to be well educated with the knowledge, the mental agility and adaptability to work in different operating environments and contexts."

With the MOU, which covers two main areas of collaboration, WOSpecs and military experts - ranks one to three - will have more opportunities to further their studies.

The first area of collaboration is the development of bridging certificate programmes which upon completion, enable SAF personnel with O or N Level qualifications to take up two-year NYP diploma programmes. Both certificate and diploma programmes are fully paid for by the SAF.

Explaining the rationale for the two-year programme instead of the typical three that polytechnic students go through, Mr Edward Ho, NYP's Deputy Principal, said: "We recognise work experience. Perhaps they have been doing presentations or working on technical projects, these are all relevant in the early part of our courses. Therefore, they will get some exemptions in some part of our programmes (but) the academic rigour will not be different from our other programmes."

Added Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Chua Gim Hong, who heads the WOSpec Programme at SAF Education Office in SAFTI Military Institute: "This is possible because in the SAF, our people perform a wide range of operational jobs...and serve in various functional roles. For each of these responsibilities, the SAF provides training on time, on need."

In addition to the business management diploma, a six-month certificate course in engineering will commence at the end of the year. About 25 SAF personnel, mostly military experts, will embark on the certificate course in engineering before progressing to the diploma programme in mechatronics engineering. Other engineering diploma courses being planned in the near future include electronics and aerospace.

The second area of collaboration allows servicemen to use credits from selected SAF courses to gain credit recognition and module exemption in some of NYP's academic programmes.

For Staff Sergeant Mohammad Asraf Bin Zainal, the opportunity to hit the books again was a treasured second chance as the 27-year-old gave up a place to study architecture in a local polytechnic a decade ago.

"I didn't expect to go back to school after 10 years. When you grow older, you become more mature, so when given a choice to take up the diploma again...and because I want to level up with the boys coming in I told myself 'let's do it this time'," said the Platoon Sergeant from 3rd Battalion, Singapore Guards.

Close to 7,800 SAF servicemen have benefitted from over 41 professional military and continuing education courses conducted over 250 runs since the SAF's collaboration with NYP begun in 1995.