PSB Academy launches city campus and scholarships to gear up Singapore’s future workforce

SINGAPORE - 24 May 2017- PSB Academy, Singapore's Best Private Education Institution*, marked an expansion from their campus at Delta, Tiong Bahru to a City Campus at Marina Square spanning over 100,000 square feet today.

Derrick Chang, CEO of PSB Academy, Viva Sinniah, Executive Chairman of PSB Academy, Chan Chun Sing, Joanne Chua, President of SISEU, Philip Lee, General Secretary of SISEU, Sylvia Choo, Executive Secretary of SISEU.

The new campus was launched by Guest of Honour, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Secretary-General Chan Chun Sing, along with PSB Academy's university and industry partners.

The launch of the new campus in Singapore, the heart of Asia's innovation capital, signals the Academy's mission to make the idea of productivity relevant again, with a future-oriented brand of education to prepare students for a disrupted age.

On that premise, the institution plans to introduce new programmes that focus on skills needed to enable graduates to contribute to Singapore's industry transformation maps, while letting its students experience new teaching techniques and blended learning journeys, for learning to take place anywhere, on any device. Some features in the new campus include industry-standard film and radio studios and an "innovation sandbox" to help lecturers experiment with new learning approaches.

Launch of scholarship for SISEU members

At the launch of the new campus, guests also celebrated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for a first-ever scholarship with the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union (SISEU). The union has been partners with PSB Academy for over 10 years. The agreement will support over 100 workers over three years as they pursue their higher education with PSB Academy and their seven university partners from the UK and Australia.

"Like public universities and polytechnics, quality private education institutions have an important role in Singapore's development of human capital, and accountability and transparency will augur well for our sector as we face the age of disruption. The Future Academy is not only a slogan but a strategic initiative that would extend beyond the physical campus or quality teaching and maintaining academic standards.

"Students will remain at the heart of our operations, and the investment of a modern city campus, along with our agreement with SISEU today, shows our commitment to enabling anyone who is willing to make the effort, to afford quality education in his/her area of interest. Our aim is to inspire our students who wish to upskill or re-skill themselves for the future. We want to provide them with fresh pedagogies and ample avenues for collaboration and co-creation with our valued partners from academia and the industry," says Viva Sinniah, Executive Chairman, PSB Academy.

The scholarships offered are part of PSB Academy's Accessable Initiative, an in-house social programme, which has provided more than $2 million in aid through self-help groups like SINDA and MENDAKI over the last two years. This year, the institution renewed its support for members in SINDA and MENDAKI, and for the first time, welcomed members from the Eurasian Association to enjoy scholarships from PSB Academy.

Sylvia Choo, Executive Secretary, SISEU, said: "SISEU recognises that our workforce needs to evolve to stay relevant. We are constantly exploring opportunities with employers and industry partners to make skills training and upgrading more accessible to our members. We believe that industry partnerships can help to facilitate and encourage workers to take up training. We hope that, through such collaborations, we can provide more avenues to help our workers prepare for the future economy.

PSB Academy's City Campus, which will cater up to 7,000 students each week, will open its doors to a public showcase during their Open House on 10 June. CollabX Sports -- part of the Academy's series of industry talks--will headline the event, with speakers from the Singapore Sports Institute, Singapore Sports School and SportsPsych Consulting, who will discuss the future of the sports coaching and science industry in developing sporting talent in Singapore.