Over 10,000 S'pore Poly students to get mentorship opportunities
More than 10,000 students from Singapore Polytechnic will have better access to mentors over the next three years to help them chart their career and life goals, as part of a national effort to make mentoring more accessible to youth.
Mentoring SG, a national-level office, has partnered with the polytechnic to launch the first school-based Youth Mentoring Hub.
Mr Kelvin Kong, executive director of Mentoring SG, said that Singapore Polytechnic will have spaces to carry out mentorship events and plan mentoring initiatives. Details about the programme are not available.
Plans are also under way to roll out more of such spaces at other polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) by the end of 2026.
Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan said three industry-specific mentoring groups in the areas of technology and telecommunications, sustainability and semiconductors were formed in 2024.
Mr Tan, who serves as adviser to Mentoring SG, said there are plans to set up 10 such industry-specific mentoring groups by 2026.
These new initiatives were announced on Nov 1 by Mr Tan, who is also Minister of State for Trade and Industry, at the annual National Mentoring Summit held at Marina Bay Sands.
The event, supported by the National Youth Council, brought together more than 500 participants, mainly corporate leaders and professionals, as well as those from mentoring organisations and educational institutions and youth.
Launched in December 2022, Mentoring SG took over from Mentoring Alliance for Action, which was set up in March 2021 to develop common resources and share best practices to raise mentoring standards in the youth sector.
To date, Mentoring SG has benefited 6,000 young people through collaborations with 150 corporate partners and 2,500 mentors.
Mentoring SG also connects mentors from the public sector to support polytechnic and ITE students from disadvantaged backgrounds who show potential and resilience. The mentors will guide students on their immediate plans after graduation, as well as longer-term career and life goals.
These mentors may also come from private sector corporations.
Ms Nadiatul Wahidah, 34, who faced difficulties reintegrating into society after her release from prison, is being mentored by Mr Glenn Lim, 53, co-founder of Architects of Life, a social impact organisation that works with at-risk youth and former offenders.
Getting help and advice in career development, personal growth, leadership and entrepreneurship has turned Ms Nadiatul’s life around.
Unhappy in her previous job in a semiconductor manufacturing company, she found a role as a programme consultant at Training Vision Institute, a training provider where she is also pursuing an advanced diploma in service management.
Mr Lim said one of his biggest motivations for starting Architects of Life and mentoring individuals such as Ms Nadiatul was to give back to the community. As a former offender himself, he understood the struggles she faced.
He said: “You can’t outsource this kind of development to some robots, right? Humans need human-to-human touch and only mentoring can do that – the transfer not just of skills, but lived experiences.”
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