Mrs Lucy Toh, Divisional Director of Special Educational Needs at MOE, was guest-of-honour at the NTU Convocation Ceremony 15 held at the Nanyang Auditorium on 27 July 2019. During the event, the celebrated educator delivered an inspiring convocation speech to nearly 1,200 guests comprising graduands, parents and VIPs in the teaching fraternity.

Everyone in the auditorium was deeply stirred by her personal account of how NIE had helped to shape her professional and personal outlook while she was pursuing her Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE), Masters in Applied Linguistics and Leaders in Education (LEP) programme.

She also took time to talk about Special Educational Needs, a topic close to her heart. She spoke about the “noise” and “anxiety” in today’s society that often stands in the way of efforts to understand the individual learning needs of special students, and exhorted graduands to see these individuals as “children first and foremost, and students, a far distant second.”

Last but not least, Mrs Toh explained why it was important for all educators to learn to work alongside – with parents, students and colleagues – in bringing about desired outcomes.

For those of you who missed Mrs Toh’s extraordinary speech, click here for the full text.