Dismantling prejudice against ITE students and graduates: a fairer Singapore for every pathway
Pulse of Tomorrow's Junior Council carried a motion to actively dismantle prejudice against ITE students and graduates, recognising that stigma harms youths’ confidence, opportunities, and social cohesion. The Council will focus on shifting norms, creating cross-pathway collaboration, and promoting a skills-first culture.
Dismantling prejudice against ITE students and graduates: a fairer Singapore for every pathway
Pulse of Tomorrow's Junior Council carried the motion moved by Ryan Wang calling for social prejudice against ITE students and graduates to be actively dismantled. The outcome is clear: we will treat this as a community norm-setting issue, not a niche education debate.
For youths in Singapore, stigma around ITE can show up early, from casual jokes to “backup plan” comments in school chats. It shapes confidence, friendship circles, and how young people see their own future. When stereotypes become the default, some students stop speaking up, stop trying new roles, or feel they must overprove themselves just to be treated normally.
This matters because ITE is a major part of Singapore’s post-secondary landscape and skills pipeline. ITE trains students for applied, industry-relevant roles through technical and vocational education, and it also offers progression routes for those who want to keep studying. Treating ITE as “lesser” weakens social cohesion and sends the wrong signal about what Singapore values: only grades, not skills, character, or contribution.
The community impact goes beyond school. Prejudice follows young people into internships, part-time jobs, NS units, and eventually the workplace. When employers or peers judge by pathway labels instead of skills and attitude, it narrows opportunities, fuels resentment, and wastes talent that Singapore needs, especially in hands-on sectors that keep the country running.
So what does action look like? Pulse of Tomorrow's Junior Council will focus on three practical directions that young people can recognise and participate in: - Language and norms: challenge casual slurs and “ITE = failure” jokes in school and online spaces, and promote respectful ways to talk about different pathways. - Contact and collaboration: create mixed-team opportunities where youths from ITE, polytechnics, junior colleges, and workplaces work together on community projects, so competence is seen directly. - Skills-first stories: highlight applied skills and contributions, not just paper credentials, and encourage youth organisations and partners to do the same.
We also want to ground this in Singapore’s broader shift toward skills and lifelong learning. National messaging around SkillsFuture and work-study pathways points to a more skills-based society. If society is moving in that direction, youth culture has to move too. The fastest way is to replace assumptions with real interactions and fair standards.
If you are tired of “pathway ranking” and want a Singapore where youths are judged by effort, values, and capability, join Pulse of Tomorrow. We are a youth-led civic platform that turns lived realities into constructive proposals and community action. For media queries, contact [email protected] or call +65 6042 5410.
