Private institutions have sprung up in the city state over the recent years to get a slice of the pie in the hot education market. To thrive as an institution in this highly competitive market, there are at least 2 key things to note.

High Standard of Regulations

First, insist on having a high standard of regulations. While the above phenomenon is good in developing Singapore as the Global Education Hub, the greed or carelessness of some has compromised with the well being of the students and hence tarnished the country’s reputation. The government’s additional effort in arresting the issue through the setting up of the Council for Private Education is reassuring. While some see the statutory requirements as cumbersome, these are in fact very basic frameworks for an institution to operate. If you wish to thrive and not just seek short term gains, you should go beyond the basic requirements. To see the list of Private Education Regulations, click here.

Good Educators

Second, choose only good educators. “Good” refers to two areas namely being knowledgeable and having the ability to engage learners. Without these, the lecture hall will soon be empty. Consider how internet based learning is gaining popularity. Let’s look at the two areas in details.

Being Knowledgeable
While phonics in elementary school has remained unchanged for decades, the contents on marketing for tertiary education have to be revised every year! The world is changing at a rapid speed and so are needs and opportunities. Educators who are obsessed or comfortable with their outdated materials are doing their students a great disfavour. In APTS, we are enlightened many times during the monthly meetings where invited speakers with various subject expertise share on the latest development. The added networking sessions also provide a valuable platform to share and learn from one another regularly. Hence to further add value to your educators, registering them as members in APTS is one of the best things you can do for them, and eventually for your students and your institution. Click here for the application form.

Ability to Engage Learners

If you have been in the education industry for some time, you would have known by now that students do not care how much you know until you have managed to engage them. While it is easy to blame students for dozing off or skipping lectures altogether, it is a known fact that good educators’ classes are well attended and received. Fortunately and unfortunately, such a skill is not regulated. Nonetheless the issue here is not really about fulfilling regulations but fulfilling your mission or obligation to your students. They deserve high quality teaching so that they can learn effectively. And hence your educators should develop this skill. To do so, three areas are key:

The terms ‘Trainer’ and ‘Educator’ are used interchangeably here. The various topics under the three areas can be found here. These are the modules that contribute towards the Professional Certificate in Training (PCT).

Future on How Institutions will be Rated

Why would a student choose one particular institution over others? Among the few common factors, one will likely become the key influence in the future – Community rating. Driven by the crowd source phenomenon, ‘Like’s or ratings by users (students, in this case) are having an increasing influence on how people are making choices. Corporate branding will not be able to compete with what the masses are saying. Are your educators really impacting the lives of the students? If yes, good for you. If not, do something now before it is too late. Either way, what happens in that lecture room will be known to the rest of the world

See the full list of benefits for joining APTS here.