17/09/2016

SkillsFuture Study Awards Opens For Persons With Disabilities And Disability Employment Professionals

Persons with disabilities and disability employment professionals can now apply for the SkillsFuture Study Awards through SG Enable. The study awards support early to mid-career Singapore Citizens in developing and deepening skills in economic growth sectors or areas of demand. Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Social and Family Development, announced that two new categories of the study awards are open for applications during the SG Enable Training and Career Fair 2016 held at the Enabling Village.

The study awards are open to the following two categories of individuals:

1. The first category is for persons with disabilities who have demonstrated resilience and perseverance in pursuing learning to achieve their full potential in life. Through this study award, they can develop and deepen their skillsets to access wider employment options.
2. The second category is for disability employment professionals, who play a pivotal role in supporting persons with disabilities throughout the process of employment and sustaining their jobs. The study award encourages these professionals to deepen their skills so that they could better assist persons with disabilities and employers.

Applications can be submitted through the SkillsFuture Study Awards website at http://www.skillsfuture.sg/studyawards. Please refer to Annex A for more information on the SkillsFuture Study Awards and their eligibility criteria

Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive of the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) said, “SkillsFuture is an inclusive movement for every Singaporean. It is relevant to everyone, regardless of the challenges faced and their starting points. The SkillsFuture Study Awards for persons with disabilities and disability employment professionals will enable these individuals to develop deep skills to stay relevant or progress in their jobs. We hope that the SkillsFuture Study Awards will empower more persons with disabilities and disability employment professionals in their lifelong learning journeys so that they can maximise their potential and realise their career aspirations.”

SG Enable Training and Career Fair at Enabling Village

In conjunction with the launch of the SkillsFuture Study Awards, SG Enable, with the support of WDA, also organised a Training and Career Fair at the Enabling Village. Featuring over 200 training and career opportunities for persons with disabilities, the fair encouraged interactions amongst persons with disabilities, employers and training providers.

The fair featured employers from both public and private sectors, such as the National Environment Agency and Apple South Asia. It also featured training providers in the sectors of F&B, contact centre, retail and creative industries [please see Annex B].

“As a sector enabler, we hope that persons with disabilities will apply for the SkillsFuture Study Awards to deepen their skills and advance their careers. We also encourage disability employment professionals to upgrade themselves to better support their clients in their career journey,” said Ms Ku Geok Boon, Chief Executive Officer, SG Enable. “I am encouraged by some of the persons with disabilities who have demonstrated tremendous perseverance in their pursuit for lifelong learning and development so as to maximise their full potential in life,” added Ms Ku.

Make The Change Integrated Programme Graduation Ceremony

Following his announcement of the rollout of the SkillsFuture Study Awards for Persons with Disabilities and Disability Employment Professionals, Minister Tan also presented certificates to 11 persons with disabilities from Muscular Dystrophy Association Singapore who graduated from the Make The Change Integrated Programme. These trainees successfully completed a design course in communication design, where they learnt how to use industry standard applications from Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Dreamweaver [please see Annex C].