THE exchange programme for Singapore and Malaysian students will be extended to school principals from both countries.

A group of 30 school principals from Singapore and Malaysia got a taste of this exchange in the past week.

They visited schools here and in Malaysia and exchanged notes on educational issues in both countries.

The programme aims to develop closer links between the education sectors in the two countries, and generate ideas about school improvement.

Said Assistant Professor David Ng, 48, who is associate dean of leadership programmes at the National Institute of Education (NIE) here: 'Both countries already have close economic cooperation, and this partnership is expected to increase. So this is one way of fostering closer partnerships in the education sector.'

Co-funded by the education ministries of both countries, the programme was held at both the (NIE) here and Institut Aminuddin Baki (IAB) in Malaysia.

The NIE is the national training centre for the teaching profession here and is part of the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

The IAB is also known as the Educational Management and Leadership Institute and is a division under Malaysia's education ministry.

Besides talks, workshops and discussion sessions, the participants also visited schools in Petaling Jaya and Johor Bahru in Malaysia, as well as Fuhua Primary, Deyi Secondary and Hwa Chong Institution here.

Fifteen school principals from each country were selected for the programme, which ended on Thursday night.

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