The National Institute of Education offers a postgraduate teacher preparation programme leading to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) of the Nanyang Technological University.  The programme provides for some degree of specialisation in primary school and secondary school teaching.  The Physical Education specialisation is taught in a two-year full-time programme.  The other specialisations are taught in a one-year full-time programmes.

This PGDE Programme is administered by the Foundation Programmes Office which is committed to developing educational professionals to be leaders in the service of learners.

Aims of PGDE Programme

The programme aims to prepare teachers who are well-informed, competent, and thinking professionals. These teachers will have an understanding of the key concepts and principles of teaching and learning and should be able to implement, analyse and theorise about key instructional processes.

The PGDE programme is designed to prepare student teachers to:

(a)    have the knowledge and skills to teach in primary or secondary schools;

(b)    be aware of and sensitive to the needs, abilities, interests and aptitudes of students in schools;

(c)    be able to teach students of different abilities, interests and backgrounds effectively and creatively;

(d)    be committed to the nurturing and development of the students in their charge; and

Duration of Programme

The PGDE programme is of one academic year's duration (an academic year consists of two semesters).  It leads to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education, with specialisations in primary education or secondary education. Student teachers specialising in Primary/Secondary Education are further sub-divided into two categories: "General" and "Language Specialisation".

The PGDE (PE) programme is of two academic years' duration.  It leads to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education with specialisation in Physical Education at the Secondary level.

The Academic Unit System

The Institute adopts the Academic Unit System. Academic Units are used to measure academic workload per semester and per academic year. The academic year is currently divided into two semesters.

The Academic Unit (AU) provides a consistent measure of the student teacher’s academic workload related to both class attendance and independent preparation. Used to weight courses in a subject taught for the duration of one semester of 13 teaching weeks, each Academic Unit represents an average workload of one hour per week in the form of lecture/tutorial classes, or three hours per week in the form of laboratory/field sessions. For example, a typical course with one lecture hour per week and one tutorial hour per week carries 2 AUs. Academic Units are calculated on a course basis, that is, subjects are made up of courses and each course carries a certain number of AUs.

Academic Calendar

The academic year is made up of two semesters as follows:

*     If NTU recess falls within the Practicum period, that programme will follow the school’s one-week break in March.
^**    Practicum takes place within vacation period