MOE Teaching Internship Programme Experience

Hello yall!

The MOE TIP is actually a pretty interesting programme. Essentially, you get to experience being a teacher in a school for about 1 term, even before going to NIE and getting formally trained.

Now I am writing this as I go along, with some major editing after I am done with the whole programme, so the structure may feel a little weird but I’ll try my best to make sure that it flows properly okay?

Part 1: The Application Process

I indicated interest in teaching to my school higher education committee and I think there was some nominations that went on or something along the lines but basically the school can submit your name to MOE and MOE potentially could offer you an Early Application window, which was what I applied under.

For those who weren’t offered, I believe that there is another window somewhere in August, but it may be during Prelims/A Levels preparation period so be sure to plan your time well!

Part 1.1: The Form

The form is rather lengthy, which originally took me by surprise ( I thought that MOE would have all these records, us being students) but I guess it really is more about how you sell yourself rather than it actually being about your credentials. Well, now you won’t be taken by surprise:)

The estimated time that the form indicates is about 45mins (I think) and if you do a google search on people who have shared their experience online, they may say an hour, but personally, I took about a week.

Now don’t get me wrong. You can easily fill up the form in under 45mins, but the main reason for why I took so long was that it took a while for me to firm up certain details like my referees, which I will talk a little bit more about later on.

Some information they require are as follows (so be sure to prepare these things before you sit in front of the computer, ready to do up your application!)

• Why you are interested in this internship (1500 words)
• Industries of interest (up to 3)
• Previous applications for teaching position/ MOE TIP/ Student Mentorship Programme
• Choice of school (6)
• Choice of subjects (2; or 4 if your first 2 are of the same level)
• JC1 Promo Results
• O Level Results
• Awards and Prizes (up to 5)
• CCA Records and Leadership Position (up to 5)
• Other qualifications (up to 5)
• Referees (up to 2)

Part 1.2: Referees

Essentially, referees are unrelated persons (ie not family) that can attest to who you are. Preferably you would ask people who have seen you at work and know your character and abilities.

People of consideration include but are not limited to:

• Current teachers
• Former teachers
• Other adults who have known you

For me, I asked my JC CCA teacher in charge as well as my secondary school form teacher. The only reason I didn’t ask my JC CT is because he doesn’t teach me. My class is a mixed class and he teaches Geography while I study Physics, hence I basically only see him in the classroom once a week during Civics and occasionally when he is a performer and I am on PA duty.

Part 2: The Interview Process

So after you submit the form, MOE would email you if you were selected for the interview. For me, the response was pretty quick- they got back to me in like 2 days.

So after you indicate your availability for the interview, the next course of action would of course be to prepare for the interview.

Part 2.1: Preparing for the Interview

My school has a Google group where seniors sometimes pen down their experiences and some of them include questions that were asked. What I did was to read through what they had written and consolidate the question, not unlike what we did for PW to prepare for the Q&A. I’ll see if I can get permission to share the questions with you guys too!

Part 2.2: The Actual Interview

So MOE usually choses to do the interview in a group format, which may sound intimidating at first but really do hear me out. Your interviewers may vary, both in numbers and in occupation but for me, I had 2 interviewers, a HR representative and a Principal of a secondary school. The principal was the one who was conversing with us most of the time while the HR guy mainly was the person taking down minutes (which is a huge challenge in my opinion… 1.5 hours of taking down minutes? Mad respect for him)

My group was 8 people big, comprising of students from various JCs so it really was quite an interesting mix.

I honestly went in feeling really nervous because I don’t exactly feel super confident in voicing out my opinions in front of a group of complete strangers, but I really have to say, the interviewers were really really nice and it almost didn’t feel like an interview. It was more like an open table discussion session, with all 8 of us sharing our own views and opinions, building on each other’s opinions and really just interacting with 7 other students that you wouldn’t have otherwise known.

So at the end of the day, my point really is that you should just go in with an open mind and think of it more as a discussion session that as an interview.

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So that’s about it. I’m done with the interview and awaiting results. To any one of you thinking about applying, really just go for it, and who knows, you might surprise yourself with the things you discover as well.

Till my next post, cya!!