Singapore’s SATS recently announced a multi-year collaborative agreement with all five polytechnics in Singapore to pursue a range of initiatives to nurture a larger pool of work-ready graduates and facilitate bilateral knowledge exchange between industry and academia. This new unified collaboration builds upon SATS’ existing efforts to build a sustainable pipeline of talent and support lifelong learning.
With the aim of building a strong Singapore core, there are six areas of collaboration that include: Student Internships, Post-internship Skills-based Career Pathways and Continuous Education, Awards and Scholarships Support Schemes, Industry Sharing and Career Talks, Access to Training Equipment and Facilities, and Staff Development.
As Asia’s leading provider of food solutions and gateway services, SATS is able to provide staff, faculty and students with diverse exposure to global trends, technologies, ideas and expertise for meaningful career growth. Under this new unified MOU, SATS aims to double its intake of interns and widen the breadth of available roles to include not only airport operations, but also food nutrition, sustainability, digitalisation, data analytics and cybersecurity, among others. Starting from academic year 2023/24, SATS will work with the polytechnics to place approximately 300 students from more than 20 Diploma courses on paid internships of up to six months.
Students will experience industry-relevant, structured and hands-on learning with regular mentoring sessions for a fulfilling internship. A key benefit that interns can look forward to is a pathway to full-time employment with SATS upon their graduation. As full-time employees, they will also gain access to development opportunities, including sponsorships for further studies under SATS’ Continuing Education Scheme.
In addition, SATS and the polytechnics will engage students from Year 1 via learning journeys, career talks and work-study programmes. The exposure to real-world experiences will bring their classroom coursework to life, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
SATS will be establishing a knowledge-exchange framework with the polytechnics to drive continuous professional development and lifelong employability for staff and faculty. The opportunities include professional training and staff attachment programmes.
The framework will also help to ensure the relevance of curriculum based on up-to-date industry practices and innovations. To this end, SATS will invite faculty to be part of on-ground operations, while nominated SATS representatives provide the polytechnics with views on coursework requirements. Such engagements will bring classroom coursework to life, bridging the gap between theory and practice.
Kerry Mok, President and Chief Executive Officer of SATS, said, “At SATS, people are our most important asset, and we are excited to embark on this unique collaboration with the polytechnics to build strong pathways of meaningful career growth for our people and students. As SATS journeys from being an Asia-centric operator to a global aviation services leader, we remain dedicated to building a robust and supportive environment for local talent development so that they can thrive on the world stage.”
Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Second Minister for Education, said, “I am heartened to see homegrown companies like SATS doing their part to nurture our local talent pipeline in collaboration with the institutes of higher learning. The collaboration will give our students the opportunity to apply their knowledge in real-world situations and contribute to SATS operations. The collaboration will also enable SATS and polytechnic staff and faculty to exchange perspectives and learn from one another.”
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