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Singapore’s workforce development to see transformation next year

SINGAPORE — 2015 will see a major transformation in the way the Singapore workforce is developed, to give every Singaporean the opportunity to reach his full potential. On the cards are new courses for both students and adults, to help them acquire deep skills in growth industries.

SINGAPORE — 2015 will see a major transformation in the way the Singapore workforce is developed, to give every Singaporean the opportunity to reach his full potential. On the cards are new courses for both students and adults, to help them acquire deep skills in growth industries.

They are part of plans driven by the SkillsFuture Council, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

It began with recommendations made by the ASPIRE Committee in August, to enhance learning at polytechnics and the Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs). The launch of Singapore’s new Continuing Education and Training masterplan followed a month later, when Mr Tharman announced the setting up of the high-level SkillsFuture Council.

It has been tasked with developing an integrated system of education, training and career progression for all Singaporeans, promoting industry support for individuals to advance based on skills and fostering a culture of lifelong learning.

There will be an emphasis on mastery of skills across the board, even for degree holders. The Workforce Development Agency (WDA) will lead a revamp of the Workforce Skills Qualification, expanding it to cover more professional, manager and executive-type jobs.

MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT

From 2015, two to three officers from each polytechnic and ITE will be seconded to the WDA for a two-year term to help develop these skills progression frameworks. Employers will also be more involved.

“For companies, they are most interested in how their business environment is changing and how their business strategies should therefore change and therefore what their implications are for their manpower and skills needed,” said Ng Cher Pong, chief executive of the WDA.

For a start, the WDA will partner businesses in growth sectors such as biologics, precision engineering and services to come up with what’s described as “sectoral manpower strategies”. This marks a significant shift in Singapore’s manpower development strategy.

“The fundamental change under the sectoral manpower strategy is a much closer integration between economic development and manpower development,” said Mr Ng. “We are hoping through this process, it will pull the two much closer together and we have some of the conversations upfront, rather than have the economic development run ahead of the manpower development.”

CAREER GUIDANCE FOR STUDENTS

The manpower development will start early. From 2015, Education and Career Guidance officers will be posted to secondary schools and junior colleges.

A new Education and Career Guidance syllabus will also be offered to all first-year polytechnic and ITE students. The programme will include personal management and career exploration. It will be delivered through classroom activities, workshops, seminars and visits to companies.

“What we are doing differently is we put in more foundation modules where the students are also given tools to understand themselves better,” said Tan Choon Sian, CEO of Singapore Polytechnic. “Their interests, their strengths, and how those link to their careers… the final picture is a continuum because it’s a journey they will start in secondary school and then by the time they come to the polytechnic, they will go one level deeper.”

About 5,000 Year 1 students at Singapore Polytechnic will be exposed to the new syllabus. Staff are currently being trained to deliver the new content.

ENHANCING INTERNSHIPS

Also on the cards in 2015 is enhanced internships at polytechnics and ITEs. Singapore Polytechnic for example, is looking at piloting a new programme for its civil engineering students in the construction sector. It is also in talks with the WDA to come up with Place and Train programmes for fresh graduates in selected sectors.

“The amount of work we are asking them to do going forth, after ASPIRE and the implementation of SkillsFuture, is a lot more,” said Mr Tan. “They have to spend a lot more management time, they have to devote good staff to be mentors and those mentors would have to coordinate activities within the company to host the internship.

“A good internship would mean the intern goes through different parts, different functions within the company, not just the one the mentor has influence in. So that requires, on the company’s part, a lot more coordination.”

Experts said the key point is that skills matter, and the deepening of skills is the best way for a person to acquire a good job and keep that job. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

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