 More polytechnic students enrol for specialist diploma courses
SINGAPORE : An increasing number of polytechnic students are taking on specialist diplomas and certificates over and above their usual diploma workload.
The polytechnics say this is because better students are increasingly choosing a polytechnic education.
For Wilson Lin, it is all part of the requirements for his Digital Film and Television Specialist Diploma - a course he is taking to supplement his Diploma in Media and Communications.
There are 581 students like him enrolled in the Diploma Plus Programme at the Singapore Polytechnic, which has seen a two-fold increase in students' intake from last year.
Wilson said: "To a certain extent it is taxing, but a lot of us we could manage it because we do plan our time well."
Some students have dropped out because they could not cope with the load, but this number is small - at less than 5 percent.
V. Maheantharan, Director of School of Business at the Singapore Polytechnic, said: "We are getting increasingly students of varying abilities, specially in the good end, we are getting a lot more of them there and we think that these students can be stretched with another course of study beside their full-time programme."
Students can choose from 10 subjects in the Diploma Plus Programme, ranging from psychology to software programming to engineering maths.
Students at Singapore Polytechnic pay an additional $1,200 to $1,500 for the Diploma Plus Programme. Other than Singapore Polytechnic, Temasek and Ngee Ann polytechnics also offer similar programmes.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic has introduced three Diploma Plus programmes in the fields of Applied Science, Innovation and Enterprise, and Advanced Engineering Mathematics.
Under the Innovation and Enterprise Programme, for example, students will take modules in starting a business, understanding the stock market, people management, and effective negotiation.
Andrew T. Sabaratnam, Director of Academic, School of Engineering, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said: "For our graduates to compete in the global market, they need to be multi-disciplined. For that reason, we have come up with this Diploma Plus (Programme).
"The purpose of this Diploma Plus is three-fold. One is to increase employability. Two, to prepare the students who are university bound. Three is to give them that competitive edge to compete in the global market."
Plans are also underway for Ngee Ann Polytechnic to introduce Diploma Plus programmes in languages, business and economics.
Students must have above average scores to qualify for the Diploma Plus Programme. - CNA/de  To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.: Asia Solution Kenetics
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