Quality and performance management of technical education and training in Singapore

The need for quality and performance management in any organisation including educational institutions is arguably not a subject for debate. However, many educationists find quality and performance management a confusing concept which is difficult to define, implement and measure. In recent years, there is a clear trend in Singapore for education institutions to adopt quality and performance management concepts and systems that originate from commercial and profit-driven private sector organisations. As an education professional in Singapore today, you will hear of education institutions conducting visioning and strategic planning exercises, or even preparing and applying for ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) certification and other quality certifications or awards. This author is the Principal of a technical education college - ITE College West – in Singapore under the umbrella of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). As an education institution and the principal provider of technical education and training in Singapore, ITE started to adapt and adopt a number of quality and performance management systems since 1995. These systems include: ISO 9000:2000 Quality Management System, Balanced Scorecard (BSC), People Developer System, and Singapore Quality Award (SQA) model for business excellence. In October 2005, it became the first education institution to receive the prestigious SQA. The author has travelled through this journey with ITE as a senior member of its management team from April 1998 with much personal involvement and learning through the experience. This portfolio integrates and synthesises a collation of four published papers and a small scale case study research under the overarching theme – quality and performance management of technical education and training in Singapore. The theme is explored from four perspectives: curriculum and the development of Singapore \u27as a knowledge society\u27, the application of technology, the impact of globalisation and governance and the future of technical education in Singapore based on the published papers. The small scale research in the form of a case study of ITE using BSC is presented as an integral clement of the portfolio. The case study explores the relevance of BSC for ITE as a technical education and training institution as well as shares some unique insights including: key considerations in adopting and adapting BSC, effectiveness of implementing BSC in the institution, impact of DSC implementation, and lessons learnt