BCA awards over 120 scholarships to ITE students

SINGAPORE - The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has awarded more than 120 scholarships to students pursuing built environment courses at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) as part of its efforts to attract talents into the built environment sector.

The scholarship covers full course fees and will provide the recipient with a $500 monthly allowance during the course duration. Upon completion of the course or National Service, if applicable, scholars have to serve a 2-year bond in the built environment sector.

Singapore citizens and permanent residents may apply if they have good GCE N-level, O-level or ITE results and excellent co-curricular activities (CCA) records.

According to the BCA, half of the firms they surveyed are looking to hire fresh graduates this year. Some in-demand jobs include those at the professional, managerial and executive level to technical and associate professional, as well as foreman and junior supervisory roles.

BCA will also be partnering industry firms to introduce a post-ITE development programme to provide ITE graduates more progression opportunities.The programme comprises structured on-the-job training through mentorship by sponsor firms, and part-time industry-recognised training in areas such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), design work and construction supervision.

To ensure that the teachers provide better career guidance, BCA has also conducted a pilot run of the Teachers' Attachment Programme (TAP) for ITE lecturers to keep abreast with the built environment sector's latest developments.

debwong@sph.com.sg