A Warm Welcome
Home, NIE and
TC Alumni!

On 3 November 2017, alumni of NIE and Teachers College, as well as incoming and prospective students, gathered at the National Library’s The Pod for the annual homecoming and recruitment event.

Sponsored by Teachers College’s Office of Alumni Relations, the NIE-TC Annual Alumni Event is a platform for alumni to mingle and an opportunity for prospective students to find out more about the Master of Arts in Leadership and Educational Change (MALEC) programme. MALEC is a joint masters programme offered by NIE and Teachers College, Columbia University aimed at preparing students for both organisational and curriculum leadership.

The event featured a panel discussion on the topic “Empowering the poor through asset-based community-led development” led by Ms Chua Bee Leng, Executive Director from South Central Community Family Service Centre, and a team of parent-volunteers. The speakers provided vivid insights into the lives of the poor in Singapore that are often invisible to many and debunked stereotypes around the poor. While student attendance has increased over the years, many children affected by poverty continue to underperform in school.

Parents and social workers shared about the need to empathise, not sympathise, with the poor and urged educators to adopt an asset-based perspective and to widen their definitions of success. Attendees were deeply appreciative of the panellists’ authenticity and passion, leaving the event with not only renewed friendships, but also thought-provoking insights.