IT, culinary skills among SkillsFuture courses

SINGAPORE — Government grants under the SkillsFuture framework can be used for a diverse range of courses including in areas such as aerospace, information technology, early childhood education, languages and culinary skills.

At the same time, safeguards will be in place to ensure that education and training under the framework are of high quality and relevant to the workplace.

Speaking during the Ministry of Manpower’s Committee of Supply debate, Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin reiterated that the Government is taking a broad approach of supporting work skills with the SkillsFuture Credit. “Our intent is to help Singaporeans deepen their existing skills and also to provide options for people to broaden their horizons in areas outside their current fields,” he said.

The full range of courses will be released later. To ensure quality, the courses will have to be endorsed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and other public agencies to qualify for the credits.

The MOE and the WDA will also enhance existing accreditation frameworks. Currently, to ensure that courses are industry-relevant, the institutes of higher learning develop course curriculum together with industry partners. The WDA’s Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification frameworks were also developed in close consultation with tripartite partners.

While welcoming the SkillsFuture initiatives, Members of Parliament had raised concerns over the quality of courses under the framework. There were also calls for the MOM to make sure that all Singaporeans, including stay-home mothers and people with disabilities, can benefit from the SkillsFuture Credit scheme. Mr Tan said his ministry will be looking into this.

In response to Workers’ Party chief Low Thia Khiang’s question on the timeline of implementation for the various SkillsFuture initiatives, Mr Tan stressed the need to introduce the schemes in phases, to ensure that the training landscape is able to develop in tandem with the new measures. “We need to avoid a case where training institutions face a sudden surge in demand and resort to offering sub-standard programmes or expanding class sizes and compromising on quality,” Mr Tan said. “This will lead to wastage of both individuals’ time and effort, and public monies.”

This year will see the introduction of initiatives such as enhanced subsidies of up to 90 per cent for mid-career Singaporeans, and the Earn and Learn apprenticeship programme. The S$500 SkillsFuture credit for two million Singaporeans aged 25 and above will kick in from next year.

Mr Tan also stressed that the SkillsFuture Credit is meant to support training initiated by individuals and not to fund training courses requested by employers. The Government will still provide subsidies for companies, including extending training support for another three years for small and medium enterprises to send their workers for training.

“Training funded by the credits, which are meant for individuals, will not allow employers to qualify for absentee payroll from the WDA,” Mr Tan said.