Ms Thian Ai Ling
General Manager, My First Skool
With over 25 years of experience in the education industry, Thian Ai Ling, General Manager of My First Skool, has dedicated her career to working with children and youth. Ai Ling spearheads business growth initiatives, enhances operational effectiveness, and drives the development of systems and practices for quality assurance, change management, and innovations. Ai Ling is instrumental in the designs and niche programming for the large and atypical My First Skool centres. A people developer, Ai Ling coaches her team of Zonal Directors, Cluster Quality Managers and Centre Principals with Systems Thinking and Leadership.
Prior to joining NTUC First Campus (NFC) in 2015, Ai Ling held senior leadership positions in schools and the Ministry of Education, Singapore. Ai Ling was awarded the Outstanding Youth in Education (a national recognition for young educators who have shown admirable passion in teaching and commitment to inspiring and nurturing their students) in 2001 and the Lee Kuan Yew Leadership Valedictorian Prize in 2008 (demonstrating the best overall performance in the Leaders in Education Programme, a full-time leadership executive programme by the National Institute of Education). In 2018 and 2019, Ai Ling was conferred the Top 50 Women Leaders in Education by the World Education Congress and the Education Leadership Award. Ai Ling’s expertise in education and quality systems is widely recognised, and she is frequently invited to speak at local and international industry conferences and events. Ai Ling is the 2nd Deputy Chairman of the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF). She holds a Master of Teaching & Learning from Teachers’ College, Columbia University, USA.