primeí THE STRAITS TIMES THURSDAY, JULY 22 2010 PAGE A13 Top of the More ITE class at ITE, S’pore grads go Poly and NUS MR MOHAMED Akbar Khan Akhtar, 27, stands out among successful alumni of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). on to poly He was not only among the top stu- dents in his class there, but he also went on to the polytechnic and then the univer- sity. He capped his education earlier this month with a first-class honours degree in electrical engineering from the Nation- and varsity al University of Singapore. His primary and secondary school years had been unremarkable, he said, yesterday were the 700 recipients of the but his turnaround came when he took up Institute of Technical certificate of merit, which goes to the top electronics at ITE College West (Balestier Education enrolment up 5 per cent in each course. Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, the Campus). by nearly 20% in 5 years guest of honour at the ceremony, said in With his teachers there consistently en- his speech that strong industry demand couraging him, he began to do well. They for ITE graduates reflected the quality of also encouraged him to take up fencing BY AMELIA TAN an ITE education. and pushed him to represent Singapore in More than eight in 10 ITE graduates competitions. THE number of full-time students en- landed jobs within six months of gradua- He said: “For the first time in my life, I rolled in the Institute of Technical Educa- tion last year – despite the weaker econo- was scoring As. I realised that I could do tion (ITE) has grown by nearly 20 per my in the first half of the year. it if I set my mind to it. So I started study- cent – from 20,900 in 2005 to 24,800 Dr Ng said: “The introduction of a flex- ing hard and applying myself. After I now. ible curriculum to cater to students with started doing well, I didn’t want to give This means that students who in the different abilities as well as holistic sup- up since I had already put in so much ef- past would have gone to work after sec- port for students through student motiva- fort to get to where I was.” ondary school, picked private schools or tion programmes, counselling services Mr Akbar was a guest at the ITE gradu- dropped out of the school system are now and financial help have been effective in ation ceremony yesterday because he was opting to further their education with retaining students who would have other- mentioned in a speech by ITE chief execu- ITE, said the institution’s chief executive, wise fallen out of our social system.” tive Bruce Poh. Mr Bruce Poh. He announced that a new school of The third of four children of a delivery This trend is buoyed by ITE’s success hospitality will be set up in ITE College man and a housewife was among the in developing polytechnic-ready stu- West in Choa Chu Kang. It will have a ITE’s top students back in 2002. dents, its course offerings and the attrac- 22-room training hotel, training kitchens, He went on to study electronics, com- tiveness of its seven campuses across the training restaurants and a wine cellar. puter and communication engineering at island, he said. For Lee Jun Wei, 19, yesterday was a Singapore Polytechnic, where he contin- Not only has its enrolment gone up, it red-letter day. The aerospace technology ued his run of good grades and emerged has also produced a steadily rising graduate who topped his cohort said the as one of the top graduates. encouragement of his teachers and the number of successful graduates, with Mr Akbar said his first-class honours steady improvement of his grades degree came from sheer hard work. He many more furthering their studies at the spurred him to work hard. polytechnics and the universities. He said: “My teachers told us we must put in at least four hours of revision daily Mr Poh, speaking to The Straits Times believe in ourselves. When I started to do and would turn down friends who asked on the sidelines of the ITE graduation cer- well, I could see myself going on to the po- him out as he wanted to spend his spare emony yesterday, noted that one in five ly and furthering my studies. In second- time studying. or 20 per cent of ITE graduates went on ary school, I didn’t put in the effort be- Now, with a good degree under his to the polytechnics last year, up from just cause I couldn’t see where I was head- belt, he hopes to become a research engi- 14 per cent five years ago. ing.” neer in a government agency; in five A total of 12,409 students will gradu- That he has now charted his route years, he wants to go back to ITE – as a ate this year in decentralised ceremonies ahead is clear: He is studying aeronauti- teacher. held in their respective colleges. cal engineering in Singapore Polytechnic He said: “My teachers taught me to be- Those who received their scrolls in the and hopes to go on to the Nanyang Tech- lieve in myself and I hope that I can do ceremony at the National University of nological University after that. ITE alumnus Mohamed Akbar Khan Akhtar, 27, graduated with first-class honours in electrical the same for other ITE students.” Singapore’s University Cultural Centre [email protected] engineering from the National University of Singapore this month. ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN AMELIA TAN.