The National Institute of Education is offering a special intake of postgraduate teacher-training programme leading to the award of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) of the Nanyang Technological University. The one-year full-time programme beginning in January 2005 provides for some degree of specialisation in secondary school teaching.

Aims of PGDE Programme

The programme seeks to train university graduates to become teachers in secondary schools. It aims to prepare teachers who are well-informed, competent and thinking professionals. Such 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. They will be able to discharge competently their teaching responsibilities in a variety of classroom and school contexts in a professional and committed manner. They will also be committed to continual improvement and lifelong learning.

The PGDE programme is designed to prepare trainee teachers to:

(a) have the knowledge and skills to teach two secondary school subjects, depending on the
      specialisation;

(b) be aware of and sensitive to the needs, abilities, interests and aptitudes of students in
      secondary schools, junior colleges or centralised institutes;

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

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

(e) be committed to self-initiated and sustained professional development.

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  secondary education.  Trainee teachers specialising in secondary education are further sub-divided into two categories: "General" and "Language Specialisation".

The Academic Unit System

The Institute adopts the Academic Unit System, that is, 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 trainee teacher’s academic workload related to both class attendance and independent preparation. Used to weight modules 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 subject with one lecture hour per week and one tutorial hour per week carries 2 AUs. Academic Units are calculated on a modular basis, that is, subjects are made up of modules and each module carries a certain number of AUs.

Academic Calendar

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