NTU alumni to receive $1,600 in course credits

By Wee Rae

PHOTO: PaCE College

To encourage lifelong learning, NTU is offering $1,600 in course credits to all NTU alumni, so they may enrol in skills-based courses with effect from this month, regardless of whether they were full-time or part-time graduate and undergraduate students.

This new initiative offers professional development courses, specialist and graduate certificate courses as well as part-time degree courses under the College of Professional and Continuing Education (PaCE College) in NTU. Participants will receive a certificate upon completion of these courses.

Ranging from one day to a week, the professional development courses are short courses that include the development of customer service and team-building skills.

One such course is The Art of Saying No to Customers Without Offending Them, a two-day programme that equips participants with effective communication skills in customer service.

The semester-long specialist and graduate certificate courses, which come in the form of lectures, tutorials and lab sessions, focus on emerging job sectors such as engineering and cybersecurity. Alumni who choose to enrol in these courses will take them with current undergraduate or postgraduate students.

Most students and alumni the Nanyang Chronicle spoke to were supportive of the initiative.

“I’m glad to know that we have something special planned for us, as NTU students, once we graduate,” said Deepashini Naidu, a final-year student from the School of Humanities.

The 23-year-old added that while the credits may only be able to cover two to three courses, they are sufficient for her to pick up technical skills.

“If I’m learning something like coding, I’ll probably only need one course to learn the basics, which is better than not knowing anything at all,” said Deepashini.

Ms Charlene Lee, who graduated from the National Institute of Education in 2012, said: “Some of us want to pick up new skills but eventually don’t because of monetary issues.”

“This incentive helps to give us a little push (to learn new skills),” added the 28-year-old.

Under this new initiative, NTU alumni who are Singapore citizens or permanent residents aged 40 and above can use government subsidies to offset course fees. This means that they can take up to six short courses or semester-long courses with the $1,600 credits, said PaCE College.

Those under 40 are able to take four to five short courses or two semester-long courses, while all foreigners can take up to two short courses or one semester-long course.

Alumni can register for the courses on the PaCE College website. If their course credits are insufficient, top-ups can be made with cash.

For final-year Nanyang Business School student Kenny Tan, the University’s initiative is better than similar schemes currently offered by the government.

One such scheme is the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) — a national credential system that trains, develops, assesses and certifies skills and competencies for the workforce.

On why he would rather attend NTU courses over government-initiated programmes, Tan said: “It’s the sense of familiarity for me. I will be familiar with the way lessons are structured and can access learning resources more easily.”

But some students feel that this initiative may not be beneficial.

“These courses are more theoretical, and I can learn more on my job through practical work experience,” said Low Hong Liang, a first-year student in the Master of Science Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme.

Citing leadership workshops as an example, the 24-year-old added: “It’s easy to deal with a simulation (in such workshops) over a few days, but it’s very different when it comes to work in the real world.”

The type of courses is another limitation of the initiative.

“The courses offered aren’t that helpful to me because they are already part of my undergraduate curriculum,” said Eatsham Ahsan, 24, a final-year student at the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Mr Lee Hong Ze, who graduated from the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering this June, hopes that NTU will offer more online courses in future.

“It makes it more accessible especially for people like us who are working and may not have the time to travel to school to attend lessons,” the 24-year-old added.

Currently, PaCE College offers online modules in biotechnology, business, computing, economics, engineering, mathematics, science and statistics.

Improvements to the initiative will be made according to job market changes to ensure that the courses offered remain current and relevant, said PaCE College.

For Ms Andromeda Tan, 23, the initiative ties in well with the government’s efforts to inspire Singaporeans to learn throughout their lives.

“It’s great that NTU came up with this. It’s a good opportunity for them to promote their courses as part of what the government is encouraging,” added the fresh graduate from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.