SINGAPORE – In 2021, Ms Lim Li Tong missed the grade required for her dream polytechnic course, forcing her to give up the place she had secured through the Early Admissions Exercise.
Her mathematics grade in the O-level examination fell below the requirement for the early childhood and education course, even though she had done better than expected in most of her other subjects.
Instead of entering polytechnic, she enrolled in ITE College Central, where she studied event management.
The detour left her ashamed and embarrassed. She was even hesitant to tell others where she was studying because of misconceptions about ITE students.
“People say it’s the end or that students there just don’t like to study,” she told The Straits Times.
Ms Lim Li Tong, an early childhood and education graduate, receiving the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Achievement Award on May 7.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF LIM LI TONG
But her perspective shifted when she was in ITE College Central.
“I always told myself that since this is where I am already, the only way to turn things around is by working hard in ITE,” she said.
“I knew I couldn’t let my parents down again,” she added. “I really wanted to prove that I can progress and do well.”
In ITE, she realised that her strengths lay beyond classroom learning and rote memorisation. She immersed herself in research and group projects, often going beyond what was required of her to strengthen her abilities.
That drive and determination paid off two years later, when she entered Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) to pursue her dream course.
Her passion for working with children began in her childhood in Malaysia, where she was cared for by a nanny. As the eldest of the five children under her nanny’s care, she helped to feed the younger kids, change their clothes and take them to the toilet.
“That’s when I found out that I really love and find joy in working with children,” she recalled.
