1.                  As part of the Ministry Of Education’s continuous efforts to better develop teachers, MOE has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NUS Enterprise to expand the range of Teacher Work Attachments (TWA) opportunities currently offered to teachers.  

2.         The MOU will offer 10 teachers every year with the opportunity to engage in local work attachments with NUS Enterprise start-ups.  These teachers will spend at least one day per week for a minimum of six months in a local start-up company before proceeding overseas for attachment.  Attachments to start-up companies expose teachers to entrepreneurial environments. They can then share these experiences with students back in their schools and develop programs that will nurture entrepreneurial and creative talents amongst the students.

3.         The signing of the MOU signifies an important milestone for the TWA scheme. It will formalise the collaboration between MOE and NUS Enterprise to enable teachers to participate in local and overseas TWAs at start-up companies on a sustained basis.

4.         Ms Angela Ow, Director of Training and Development, MOE said “The partnership with NUS Enterprise will give teachers the unique opportunity of working with start-up companies locally and following through with the companies overseas. We are appreciative of these rich experiential learning opportunities offered by NUS Enterprise. The challenge of working in entrepreneurial ventures and the experience of going through what it takes to start a business, will better equip teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to nurture an innovative spirit in their students.”

5.         Prof Jacob Phang, CEO of NUS Enterprise said, “We are pleased to work with Ministry of Education to extend the internship opportunities with NUS and overseas start-ups via our NUS Overseas Colleges, to teachers. The internships will enable our teachers to understand the dynamics of business start-ups, and will place them in a good position to mentor student enterprises back in their schools. These students will then be better prepared to participate in the entrepreneurial opportunities at NUS when they study here.”

6.         Ms Wee Siew Bee, a teacher from Tampines Junior College, is on attachment in Silicon Valley through NUS Enterprise. She described her experience as follows: “I find that to be an effective teacher, I need to have a global mindset and gain first-hand experience by moving out of my comfort zone. An overseas TWA provides me with some guidance and advice that I can share with my students when they attempt to venture out, especially to a foreign land. This will definitely enable me to share with greater conviction what it means to have an entrepreneurial spirit.”

Background

7.         At the MOE Work Plan Seminar 2004, Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced that MOE will sign a MOU with NUS Enterprise on the TWA scheme.

TWA scheme

8.         The TWA scheme was started in November 2003. The scheme offers teachers the opportunity to broaden their experiences beyond the school environment. Students will benefit from the fresh perspectives that these teachers bring back to the classroom.  The scheme offers work attachments in collaboration with private and public sector organisations.  These include public organisations such as SAF, EDB and IRAS and private companies such as Singtel, Creative Technology and IBM.   For a complete list of companies offering work attachments this year, please refer to http://sam11.moe.gov.sg/tn/twa_opportunities.htm

NUS Enterprise

9.         NUS Enterprise is a University-level Cluster which injects an enterprise dimension to NUS teaching and research, involving NUS students, staff and alumni. The Cluster’s main activities include providing entrepreneurship education, nurturing NUS spin-off and start-up companies, as well as fostering industrial collaboration.