06/05/2016

Launch Of The Sectoral Manpower Plan For The Public Bus Industry

Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport, Mrs Josephine Teo unveiled the Sectoral Manpower Plan for the public bus industry today. Developed by the Public Transport Sectoral Tripartite Committee ¹, the Sectoral Manpower Plan supports the SkillsFuture movement to establish effective manpower strategies for the bus industry.

The Sectoral Manpower Plan targets to attract and retain local bus captains to strengthen the Singaporean core, and help them grow their careers and be ready for the industry of the future. The five strategies are:

• I. Facilitate entry and transition to bus careers
• II. Enhance training to uplift and professionalise bus careers
• III. Promote attractive benefits and career progression pathways
• IV. Build pipeline of future bus professionals through pre-employment programmes
• Strengthen outreach and community appreciation of bus professionals

The Sectoral Manpower Plan will support the transition of the public bus industry to a contracting model from mid-2016, expansion of the bus network, and implementation of the higher service levels.

Signing of MOU by Tripartite Partners for Establishment of the Singapore Bus Academy

A key initiative under the Sectoral Manpower Plan is the establishment of the Singapore Bus Academy. Today, LTA, e2i, WDA, NTWU, SBST, SMRT, TTS and GAS entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to mark the establishment of the Singapore Bus Academy. The academy will be set up by LTA in partnership with e2i, and the MOU will allow all tripartite partners to enter into a collaborative relationship to attract, retain, and upskill the public bus industry workforce.

In her speech, SMS Josephine Teo also highlighted the continuing importance of bus captains in the face of technological trends, and noted that “our aim is to transform the bus profession so that it is more attractive, skillsintensive and respected. In particular, we will help the Singaporean core of bus professionals enjoy good career development and be ready for future transitions.”

Please refer to Annex for details of the Sectoral Manpower Plan.