As part of a study tour by the Columbia University (CU) Teachers College in March 2015, CU students of the Master of Arts in Education were afforded the opportunity to interact with faculty and students from UTT’s Bachelor of Education, Mathematics Specialisation.

CU student, Mr. Prashant Jayapragas presented on the Singapore Experience in Education and addressed questions posed by the forum’s participants. Building on this experience and further interactions with UTT faculty and students, as well as on recommendation from CU’s Mathematics Department, Mr. Jayapragas was able to pursue an internship in the Mathematics Education Course (MSTM6400) at UTT’s Centre for Education Programmes.

Mr. Jayapragas is on scholarship at CU from the Ministry of Education in Singapore. He worked with the Ministry’s Mathematics Unit on curriculum planning development and also served as a Mathematics Teacher at the secondary school level. Mr. Jayapragas received the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Student Achievement Award for Community Service and continues this work at CU, serving as a Mathematics coordinator and tutor for adults requiring Mathematics for higher employment and tertiary education.

He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and a Bachelor of Engineering in Materials Science and Engineering from NUS. He is currently a student of the Master of Arts Programme in Mathematics Education at the Columbia University Teachers College, and is due to return to work with the Ministry of Education in Singapore upon graduating this year. Mr. Jayapragas received his training from UTT during the period June 24^th – July 10^th, 2015.