Education & Career Guidance Supporting Your Child in

Decision Making Ms Kathrine Yang

ECG Counsellor

Available at Junyuan Secondary on Mondays

Your Child’s Journey

• Your child may have some career options in mind

• Or may gradually discover what he/she would like for a future career

• Either way, encouraging him/her to find out more about the work and its environment will be helpful

Secondary 2 Selection of Subject Combination

Secondary 4 /5 Choice of JC / CI, Polytechnic or ITE

Post-Tertiary Further education or the world of work

Adulthood Career Aspiration

Questions Your Child May Have

“Which subject combination should I take?”

“Which educational pathway should I choose?”

“Do I enjoy the languages, Sciences, Humanities or Mathematics?”

“Do I know my career aspiration yet?”

“What are the subjects required to get to my aspiration?”

“I don’t know what I want to be yet, but I know I love Literature. How now?”

“What do I really like about this subject?”

Who am I?

Where am I going?

How do I get there?

People? Data? Things? Ideas?

1) Help Your Child Explore “Who Am I?”

Your Child’s Self-Awareness

• Helping them develop their self-identity is foundational to the education and career planning process.

• Support them as they discover their values, interests, personality and skills.

• Journeying with them to answer the question, “Who Am I?”, would help them to decide on how best to move forward.

“What does your child enjoy or is good at?”

• If they enjoy a subject, they are likely to do well in it because being interested in something engages and motivates them.

• If they do well in a subject, they are likely to be more confident of it and might grow to enjoy it over time.

Mathematics

Sciences

Mother Tongue Arts

Literature

English Language

2) Help Your Child Explore “Where Am I Going?”

• Which are the courses of study or careers that are more likely to be aligned with your child’s values, interests, personality, skills or learning needs? E.g. • Is it important to him that his work gives him opportunities to help others?

• Will her love for music be incorporated in her studies or work?

• Does she prefer a job where she works alone or as part of a team?

• Would he enjoy a career that puts his flair for writing to good use?

• Would she prefer learning in the polytechnic, which is more oriented towards specific careers, or in JC/CI, which is more broad-based and academic?

Source: John Holland's “Theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environments”

Holland Code (RIASEC Code)

• Most people can be described as a combination of 3 dominant types, e.g. “REC” (out of 6 personality types R.I.A.S.E.C).

• One tends to seek work environments of the same or similar type e.g. one with a code of REC may be drawn to jobs with REC or a similar code (e.g. RCE).

3) Help Your Child Explore “How Do I Get There?”

• What are the educational and occupational pathways available?

• What are the results criteria for your child’s desired subject combination at the end of Sec 2, if any?

• What are the various courses’ minimum entry requirements for JC, Poly, ITE, etc.?

• What steps can your child take, to work towards his/her goal?

• Are there practical constraints your child may face? E.g. colour appreciation deficiency

As soon as possible…

• Create opportunities for your child to speak with relatives or neighbours who are in various occupations

• Encourage them to observe and interact with people on the job (e.g., retailers when shopping, nurses/doctors when visiting the clinic) to find out more out about their work

• Allow them the flexibility to explore different industries if they are looking for part time work during the holidays

• Enthuse them to read the newspapers and listen to the news to be more aware of new industries and opportunities out there

• Encourage them to visit open houses (usually held in January every year) to speak with seniors and lecturers to find out more about the courses

Explore the ECG portal together with your child

myskillsfuture.sg/secondary

Remind Your Child

Not to choose a subject combination because

• of a friend, teacher, relative, etc.

• it sounds prestigious

• many perceive it will lead to good prospects

• they qualify for it, even though the subject does not interest them

Lifelong Learning

Keep Learning. Be Resilient.

Develop 21st century competencies, values, and workplace readiness skills to be adaptable and resilient.

• To thrive in a globalised economy and navigate meaningfully through life, you must: • Establish sound values;

• Seize every opportunity to develop transferrable soft skills such as: cross-cultural communication skills, problem-solving skills, and team work;

• Continually develop workplace readiness skills such as literacy, numeracy, and technical skills throughout life.

Support your child in making informed choices for his/her education and career pathways!

Ways to support your child in ECG

Please refer to www.moe.gov.sg/ECG-parent-guide for more details

Some examples of Course Pre-requisites

4 N (T) & 4 N(A) to Nitec

Information as at Jan 2018

Source: 2018 Intake Exercise Admission Booklet For Full-Time and Traineeship Course, P. 10

Some examples of Course Pre-requisites

4 N(A) to Higher Nitec

Information as at Jan 2018

Source: 2018 Intake Exercise Admission Booklet For Full-Time and Traineeship Course, P. 65

Some examples of Course Pre-requisites

O-levels to Polytechnic

Information as at Jan 2018

Food for thought:

Is Additional Mathematics a required or “good-to-have” subject for entry to Engineering courses?

Source: Joint Admissions Exercise 2018, P. 34

Some examples of Course Pre-requisites

O-levels to Polytechnic

Information as at Jan 2018

Food for thought:

Is Principles of Accounts a required or “good-to-have” subject for entry to Accountancy?

Source: Joint Admissions Exercise 2018, P. 59

Some examples of Course Pre-requisites

A-levels to NUS

Information as at Jan 2018

Source: http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/apply-to-nus/A-levels-subject-prerequisites.html

Some examples of Course Pre-requisites

Polytechnic to NUS

Information as at Jan 2018

Source: http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/apply/local/poly/tp/temasek.html

Useful Resources

Website URL Relevant for

MySkillsFuture for Secondary School myskillsfuture.sg/secondary All streams

Schoolbag Website Schoolbag.sg All streams

The Next Step Forward (e-book) www.moe.gov.sg/the-next-step-forward All streams

What’s Next (After ‘N’ / ‘O’ / ‘A’ Level) www.moe.gov.sg/whats-next All streams

ECG Parent Guide www.moe.gov.sg/ECG-parent-guide All streams

Post-Secondary Education Options www.moe.gov.sg/post-sec All streams

Post-Secondary School Brochure www.moe.gov.sg/post-sec-brochure All streams

Early Admissions Exercise - ITE www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/direct-admissions/ite-eae All streams

Early Admissions Exercise – Polytechnics www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/direct-admissions/eae 4 Express & 5NA

Direct School Admission – Junior Colleges www.moe.gov.sg/DSA-JC 4 Express & 5NA

Joint Admissions Exercise www.moe.gov.sg/JAE 4 Express & 5NA

Direct Entry to Polytechnic Programme (DPP) www.ite.edu.sg/wps/portal/definitely-des 4NA

Polytechnic Foundation Programme pfp.polytechnic.edu.sg/PFP/index.html 4NA

Feedback and Evaluation

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