Universitising teacher education in Singapore: from the TTC to the NIE

The emergence of a modern teacher education system in Singapore can be traced to 1950 when the Teachers Training College (TTC) was established. The TTC was a separate entity from the School of Education at the University of Singapore. Rapid economic growth in the 1970s and 80s necessitated changes to upgrade the education system, such that school leavers could be better prepared for work in a post-industrial economy. It was recognised then that teacher preparation had to be upgraded to represent the field as an evidence-based profession, thus leading to the establishment of the Institute of Education in 1973; this was a significant first step in the journey towards universitising teacher education in Singapore. Continued and transformative economic growth in the 1980s and 90 s necessitated further changes in education goals, best represented by the Thinking Schools, Learning Nation initiative in 1997, the Teach Less Learn More initiative in 2004, and the ICT MasterPlans initiatives. In response, in 1991, the National Institute of Education (NIE) was established, as an institute of Nanyang Technological University. The move to universitise teacher education in Singapore enabled the profession to attract a better calibre of teacher-students, develop rigorous graduate and postgraduate programmes in education, recruit faculty with postgraduate qualifications, and invest in Singapore-centric education research. Though the journey has been long, steady progress towards universitisation has contributed significantly to Singapore’s development, and the NIE can today claim to be an internationally recognised Institute of Distinction.