From user to programmer
The Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis offered by NUS-ISS trains people without IT background to become IT professionals
Miss Puan (left) with a course-mate at NUS-ISS' Commencement Ceremony. PHOTOS: NUS-ISS, MAYA PUAN YULING
Miss Puan (in red sweater) with her team-mates at Iras.
Eve Yap
Miss Maya Puan Yuling knew wthat studying for the Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis programme would be tough.
After all, Miss Puan - who has a Bachelor of Science (second class honours) degre in Applied Mathematics from the National University of Singapore - was doing a graduate-level information technology (IT) programme when she had no IT background.
But she toughed it out in the 13-month full-time study because she wanted to learn everything from C# programming language to coding application development - skills which she now taps as an analyst in application development at Avanade Asia, a company that provides business solutions using Microsoft technologies.
"My only goal was to learn as much as possible so I would be ready to work in the IT industry. I didn't expect to be awarded any prizes," says Miss Puan, who did win the IBM Gold Medal and Book Prize.
The Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis (GDipSA) is offered by the National University of Singapore's Institute of Systems Science (NUS-ISS).
Established in 1981, NUS-ISS provides graduate education and aims to develop infocomm leaders, among other things.
For Miss Puan, the GDipSA programme, which she attended from August 2013 to September 2014, was like swimming in the deep end from the get-go.
She spent six to seven months boning up on the basics, a month in an application development project, and five months interning at the Inland Revenue of Singapore (Iras).
Tight deadlines
Just as in the working world, project timelines were compacted.
"Completing every project was a challenge," she recalls.
The shortest was three days for a programming project and the longest, a one-month application development exercise.
The latter involved students creating a stationery management system (SMS) for a university. A web application, it allows people to request for stationery and for back-end users to manage the stock.
She experienced the application development life cycle from requirement gathering to user acceptance tests.
But the rigours put her in good stead for her five-month internship at lras, where she was involved in two application development projects.
Choosing the GDipSA was not by a mere process of elimination.
She says: "I decided to join the IT industry because I didn't wish to be just a user. I wanted to be a programmer and come up with new applications that are secure and easy to use and navigate."
Those who do not have the knowledge or skills should not be put off from joining the industry, says Miss Puan.
Dr Esther Tan, chief of the GDipSA study, says: "The programme transforms someone without IT knowledge into an IT professional in a very short time.
"In fact, people who feel they have lost touch with their IT knowledge can also take the programme as a refresher course and update themselves with the latest IT knowledge."
More than 2,000 students have graduated from the programme since it was introduced in 1981.
Graduate Diploma in Systems Analysis, National University of Singapore's Institute of Systems Science
Next intake: February and August 2015. Annual tuition fee: $9,000 (for local students). For details, go to www.iss.nus.edu.sg/GraduateProgrammes/GraduateDiplomainSystemsAnalysis
Special, Postgraduate Studies I, The Sunday Times, January 11, 2015, Pg 2