Nanyang Poly kicks off productivity push with new centre

By Amelia Tan, The Straits Times, 7 Apr 2015

A SERIES of workshops, internships and projects will be rolled out in Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) to ingrain the idea of productivity in students early on.

The push will be done through a new Productivity Training Centre (PTC) at NYP, which was opened by Senior Minister of State for Law and Education Indranee Rajah yesterday.

She said schools play an important role in instilling in their students the importance of productivity.

"(Productivity) needs to become part of our daily life... (it is about the way we) think and approach problems and circumstances."

She added that cultivating such a mindset starts when we are students.

Among other activities, the productivity centre will organise a three-day workshop every year, which aims to give 1,000 final-year business students an overview of the ways businesses can boost efficiency.

Every year, about 120 students will also work with companies to identify the causes of inefficient work processes and propose solutions.

Some 60 students each year will also do internships at companies where they will be involved in productivity projects.

Mr Henry Heng, senior director of NYP's School of Business Management, said the poly did not have structured productivity training programmes previously.

"We want our students to understand the concepts well so that when they go out to work, they will be able to help their companies become more efficient," he added

Final-year business management student Crystabel Huan, 20, said she found the centre's programmes to be an eye-opener.

"I worked with a restaurant to identify why its customers had to wait a long time to be served. That allowed me to apply what I learnt in the workshops," she said.