PEOPLE OF SAL: SUHAILIN BTE MOHD SAHED

Suhailin Bte Mohd Sahed is no stranger to spending her time after work at classes. The Training and Development Manager at the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) did her MBA while she was teaching at a primary school and immediately after, she enrolled for the ACTA (now known as ACLP) course, which again meant sacrificing two to three evenings a week plus the whole of Saturdays at class. 

While some may find it a pain, Suhailin actually enjoyed her ACTA classes.  “My trainer made it so fun. As this was pre-Covid days, we had the opportunity for interactive activity.”

Getting her ACTA accreditation was a big step in her learning journey. In 2018, Suhailin quit her teaching job and joined SMC to manage its training department. After about 20 months in her new job, Suhailin was back at class again. 

With the support of SAL, she signed up for the Diploma in Adult and Continuing Education (DACE) programme. DACE is a follow-up to ACTA, which focuses on adult learning. Although she was just a few months shy of qualifying for a full training sponsorship from SAL, Suhailin decided to go ahead and pay 50% of the course fees out of her own pocket.

“It was very relevant to what I wanted to do, and I didn’t want to wait for the next course which will take place further down the road,” she says, recalling the gruelling eight months. “We had to design a curriculum, submit a practical section (practicum) and there were exams. One of the most useful skills I learnt was how to develop online learning programmes. I even tested these on my SMC colleagues to get their feedback.”

Suhailin received her diploma in May this year and SMC is already benefiting from having a person in-house with DACE accreditation. To enable participants to use SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) funding for SMC training, the courses must be managed by someone who is DACE qualified. Suhailin’s qualifications meant that SMC can save from having to hire an external consultant.

“It also helps that I am familiar with our content and processes and this cuts down unnecessary work. More than just getting a diploma, I can now lend my name to help get our programmes accredited,” she says. SMC is already getting positive feedback from both its trainers and participants. “They tell us that the management of the courses is more professional and structured and the communications more consistent.”

If you are thinking of signing up for a learning programme, Suhailin advises, “Find out whether this qualification will help you in any way. You need to see it through. Work out a schedule to fit in family and social life as well or you may get burnt-out especially when everything (work and study) are online these days. But I have no regrets. It was great networking with people from different sectors who have similar interests.” 

Employees of the SAL Group enjoy a wide range of learning and development benefits. Find out more here.