06/03/2015

Appointment Of 17 Sector Coordinators Among Post-Secondary Education Institutions And Launch Of Skills-Based Modular Courses In 2015

1. SkillsFuture is a national movement that seeks to develop skills for the future and help Singaporeans build a future based on skills mastery. In Budget 2015, DPM Tharman outlined a slate of SkillsFuture initiatives to help every Singaporean to advance based on skills. In the education sector, SkillsFuture efforts include strengthening education and career guidance in schools, enhancing internships to better students' learning at the workplace, and launching the SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme to provide fresh graduates from the polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) a head-start in their careers.

2. To support SkillsFuture, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has appointed, among the post-secondary education institutions (PSEIs), sector coordinators to strengthen linkages between study and work.

3. The PSEIs will also launch new skills-based modular courses in the second half of 2015 to provide Singaporeans with more opportunities to acquire relevant skills.

4. Sector coordinators have been appointed for each of the following 17 sectors:

5. The sector coordinators will play a central role in driving industry engagement and coordinating the implementation of SkillsFuture initiatives for their respective sectors, particularly among the polytechnics and ITE.

6. Students will benefit from strengthened linkages between the PSEIs and employers, through internships, curriculum development, and industry projects. The sector coordinators will also facilitate the spread of best practices across the education institutions. Employers will benefit from having a convenient point-of-contact within each sector to coordinate their outreach to and engagement with the PSEIs, particularly for new projects and collaborations.

7. Many of the 17 sectors are aligned with the future growth and priority sectors identified by DPM Tharman in his Budget 2015 speech. Over time, more sector coordinators will be appointed for other industry sectors.

Launch of Skills-Based Modular Courses in Second Half of 2015

8. In support of lifelong learning and skills mastery, especially for those in their mid-careers, the universities will launch about 200 skills-based modular courses, and the polytechnics will also launch more than 100 modular courses at the diploma and post-diploma levels, in the second half of 2015. Singapore Citizens (SCs) enrolled in modular courses offered by the PSEIs can expect to receive the same level of subsidies as that for the equivalent part-time qualification. Individuals can also tap on the new SkillsFuture Credit, which will be given to all SCs aged 25 and above from 2016, to defray course fees.

9. These modular courses, covering key growth and priority sectors in Singapore, such as Advanced Manufacturing, Information and Communications Technology, Aviation, and Logistics, will offer more flexibility for working adults to develop new skills and deepen their skills in focused areas as their career progresses. More modular courses will be offered by ITE, the polytechnics, autonomous universities and UniSIM over the next few years.