The Colombo Plan Staff College (CPSC) together with the Singapore Cooperation Programme under the Technical Cooperation Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Singapore, and the ITE Education Services (ITEES) conducted a regional staff development program on Industry 4.0 (IR 4.0) for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Leaders: Technologies, Threats and Opportunities. A total of 19 TVET practitioners from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand joined the training program held at the Concorde Hotel and ITE Academy, Singapore from October 9 to 13, 2023.
The program was designed to introduce Singapore's IR 4.0 transformation journey in TVET, and explore Singapore’s approach in developing human capital and supporting the workforce in acquiring new skills and opportunities. This collaborative training program used various teaching methodologies such as lectures, group discussions, dialogues and experiential activities, which included relevant site visits.
The program was supervised by CPSC Director General, Prof. G.L.D. Wickramasinghe and MFA Deputy Director General, Mr. Gan Teng Kiat. It was facilitated by CPSC Senior Faculty Specialist and Program Coordinator, Engr. Dr. Mian Khuram Ahsan and the designated Local Coordinator from MFA Technical Cooperation Directorate in Singapore, Ms. Bernice Lee.
The program was inaugurated on October 9 at the ITE Academy campus. Dr. Kiat and Engr. Dr. Ahsan delivered the opening remarks. Likewise, a short welcome speech was also imparted by Mr. Bruce Poh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ITEES. During the program, the participants were also given time to introduce themselves to each other.
Presentations, lecture sessions, and group discussions covered the following topics during the five-day training program: Introduction to Key Technologies in Industry Revolution (IR) 4.0; Benefits and Challenges of New Technology Developments to Governments, Industries and the Workforce; Impact of Industry 4.0 on the Education Sector with a Focus on TVET; and Singapore’s SkillsFuture Programme.
Photos from left to right: MFA Deputy Director General, Gan Teng Kiat; CPSC Program Coordinator, Engr. Dr. Mian Khuram Ahsan; and CEO, ITE Education Services, Mr. Bruce Poh, deliver the opening remarks.
To supplement the lecture sessions, the participants conducted institutional tours at the ITE College Central and its School of Engineering Facilities, as well as the Bosch Rexroth Regional Training Centre for an industry visit. In addition, MFA organized a social programme at the Gardens by the Bay for the participants and resource persons.
On the last day of the training program, Mr. Poh and the Deputy Director of ITE School of Engineering, Mr. Ramanath Sathyanarayana Hassan facilitated a dialogue session prior to the closing ceremony. The five-day training program was concluded with the closing remarks of Mr. Kiat, Engr. Dr. Ahsan, and Mr. Poh, which was followed by a brief sharing of learnings and reflections from the selected delegates about the new skills and opportunities in Singapore’s IR 4.0.
