Mar 9, 2018 | By Benedict
Singapore’s Applied Learning Programme (ALP), which aims to deliver hands-on learning programs to primary schoolers, is being expanded. All schools will implement the program, which includes STEM activities like robotics, coding, and 3D printing, by the year 2023.
The ALP, which currently serves more than 80 primary schools and all 155 secondary schools in Singapore, is expanding to cover each and every primary school in the country. This expansion, expected to be completed by 2023, will help more students than ever develop hands-on skills with practical and educational uses.
On Monday, Singapore’s Education Minister for Schools Ng Chee Meng said that the program would inspire students to enjoy the act of learning, and dismissed the idea that things like coding and 3D printing are purely vocational skills.
"Students learn by applying and by doing, and they learn beyond the classroom,” Ng explained. “They see for themselves how they can apply what they have learnt to the real world.”
In addition to the expansion of the ALP, which will see large numbers 3D printers finding their way into classrooms in Singapore, the Education Ministry has also set aside money for a new national science center.
The center, due to be finished in the mid-2020s, will play a key role in providing applied learning experiences for students. It will provide hands-on maker workshops, specialized laboratory sessions, and opportunities for mentorship and research.
One school to have already adopted the ALP, Teck Whye Primary School, focuses on Material Science, encouraging its students to use 3D printing equipment. With 3D printers, students have made things like mechanical “claws” and robotic arms that could be used by those with injuries or disabilities.
Singapore is one of the most promising additive manufacturing hotbeds in Asia. The country has its own National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC), set up to bolster the country’s 3D printing infrastructure, and the National Research Foundation of Singapore has invested $42 million in a 3D Printing Center at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Singapore also has some impressive 3D printing activity in the private sector. A few weeks ago, we wrote about new Singapore-based metal 3D printing service Hitch3DPrint, which aims to connect people who need a 3D printed part with businesses who have spare envelope space on their metal 3D printers.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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