Nanyang Polytechnic and NTUC Health to nurture talents for the health and community care professional workforce
Published on 24 Jan 2017

Singapore, January 24, 2017 – To address the growing spectrum of health and elder care needs as the population ages, Nanyang Polytechnic and NTUC Health signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to nurture a pool of young talent for the health and community care sector. This is also in line with the government’s 2020 Healthcare Manpower Plan to create 30,000 new healthcare jobs as the industry is transformed.

 

The MOU will not only open doors for the Polytechnic’s School of Health Sciences students, but also for students from the Schools of Chemical & Life Sciences and Business Management through internship placements and employment opportunities at NTUC Health’s dental clinics, retail pharmacy outlets, nursing homes, day care centres, home care services, cluster support, and senior activity and wellness centres. NTUC Health will support NYP students through scholarship and sponsorship opportunities, as well as through further collaboration in curriculum development, research development, and industrial development to design systems or products. Staff at NTUC Health will also contribute to be industry speakers at NYP’s conferences and workshops. Additionally, NYP will facilitate training and upgrading programmes for NTUC Health’s staff to ensure they remain updated and equipped to do their jobs well Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS) – a Continuing Education & Training (CET) Institute of NYP will further expand the potential workforce through education and training opportunities for adult learners to enable them to join the sector.

 

The comprehensive services that NTUC Health provides to meet the growing needs of families and elderly allows students varied opportunities and experiences to grow their life skills, acquire real-life and hands-on experiences, and build stronger character, which will guide them to appreciate both the challenges and rewards of working in this sector.

 

Third-year student, Miss Kang Kai Yu, from NYP’s Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work), is currently undergoing her internship in social work with NTUC Health’s Cluster Support (Bukit Merah). As part of her internship, she assists Care Managers to support the well-being of the seniors where they visit their homes, and learns how to assess and coordinate resources which are necessary to meet the seniors’ needs. For example, on one occasion, Miss Kang helped to counsel a suicidal elderly woman, and another time, she made arrangements to disinfect an elderly’s home that was infested with bedbugs. Such opportunities made her appreciate the value of more hands-on experiences in meeting elderly’s needs and reaffirmed her passion for social work.

 

Mr Edward Ho, Deputy Principal (Development), said “We are happy that this collaboration is opening up opportunities for our students beyond Nanyang Polytechnic’s School of Health Sciences. Our Business Management and Chemical & Life Sciences students will also be able to benefit through internship and employment opportunities, scholarships and projects under the NTUC Health umbrella. Even our adult learners at SIRS are able to benefit from this initiative. Such cross-discipline collaborations, will allow our students to delve deep into this sector as it makes inroads into community-based healthcare and develop the skills and knowledge needed to better help address the issues affecting our ageing population, and develop solutions holistically to better serve our community. ”

 

Said Ms Judy Yong, Head HR & Admin, NTUC Health, “Our young people will be the health and community care leaders of tomorrow. As such, NTUC Health seeks to be pro-active in nurturing a pool of talent to prepare students from young for the health and community care professional workforce. In this partnership with NYP, we hope that every student we have the opportunity to touch, whether through scholarships, classroom teaching, or internships will find that the health and eldercare sector is indeed a meaningful place to grow their career.”