Republic Polytechnic (RP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 2002, it is the first and only polytechnic in Singapore to use the problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy for all of its programmes.
Schools and Centres
Each diploma awarded by Republic Polytechnic is recognized for articulation into a bachelor’s degree at a university in Singapore or a top university across the world.
As of 2021, RP has 7 schools and 1 academic centre which offers 36 full-time diplomas.
RP’s Industry Immersion Programme (IIP), or internship, is designed to give students a first-hand experience of the work environment and lets them apply the knowledge they have gained from the classroom. Each year, final-year students are placed on internship with over 1,200 industry partners. The duration ranges from 10 to 14 weeks and is an integral part of the diploma programme. Some students have also pursued their internships overseas during their 3rd year of study at RP. The countries include the United States, Australia and New Zealand, to destinations closer to home such as Indonesia, China and Myanmar.
The polytechnic also has a Continuing Education and Training (CET) learning arm for upskilling and lifelong learning. In line with Singapore’s SkillsFuture movement, these part-time programmes – short courses and certificates offered by the Academy for Continuing Education known as ACE@RP – allow learners to stay relevant in the current knowledge-based global economy. They include:
- Part-time Diploma Programmes
- Specialist Diploma Programmes
- SkillsFuture Earn & Learn Programmes
- Short courses/ Workshops
- National Silver Academy Courses
- Modular Courses
In January 2019, the polytechnic launched the Diploma in Applied Science in Urban Agricultural Technology, the first full-qualification diploma course in agricultural technology in Singapore. The aim of the programme is to train the next generation of high-tech farmers so that the country can produce more of its own food.