SAFTI PARTNERS NIE IN EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

SAFTI Military Institute has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Institute of Education (NIE) on 5 May to embark on educational research and development.

Having worked with NIE on an ad-hoc basis previously, the five-year MOU is SAFTI's first formalised partnership with a local tertiary institution.

Through the collaboration, SAFTI MI can tap on NIE's expertise in pedagogy and learning sciences as it pursues instructional and institutional excellence.

"NIE brings to us the ability to understand the human mind and how people learn things. We need to collaborate on subjects like the psychology of learning, how to quickly help people to go from a school boy to a skilled military operator," said Brigadier-General (BG) Eric Tan Huck Gim, Commandant of SAFTI. "NIE brings us the learning know-how."

"Students, especially the boys, will serve National Service (NS) and many of them will go through SAFTI," said NIE's Professor Lee Sing Kong, Dean of Graduate Programmes and Research.

"If you can understand how students learn in school, through the pedagogical skills and expertise that the teachers acquire at NIE, this could be translated to understand the way in which some of the training processes and approaches can be conducted at SAFTI," he added.

NIE also benefits from the collaboration through the research involving pedagogy, learning sciences, ethics and values conducted together with SAFTI. At the same time, it would be able to tap on SAFTI's military pool to undertake a longitudinal study of students' developmental process beyond school.

While the MOU brings about much benefit for both parties, it also signifies SAFTI's move to develop instructors at a professional level - there are plans to train up to 2,500 SAF instructors by 2008.

The course modules designed include education psychology, instructional design and the use of technology to enhance learning. Equipped with such learning methodologies, the instructors can then train other military personnel in the best possible way to handle future uncertainties that come with a 3G environment.

"The 3G SAF puts new demands on SAF officers. We need to be more adaptable and understand complex situations quickly," said BG Tan. "It is important that our officers are developed to the best of their ability, and development comes through training and education."

"Developing an officer is developing their acumen to understand quickly, adapt quickly and respond appropriately," he added.

The modules are categorised into Specialist Diploma and Masters modules. Instructors going through the Specialist Diploma course will gain accreditation upon completion of six modules.

For those taking the Master's degree modules, the credits earned can be used subsequently to complete a Master's degree programme with NIE.