Government funding to support training-related activities for work pass holders and their family members

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Ms Hazel Poa, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether there are any Government-subsidised training schemes available to work pass holders, long-term visit pass holders and dependant pass holders; and (b) if so, what are these schemes and what is the amount of subsidy spent on each group in each of the past three years.

Response

1. Continuing Education and Training (CET) schemes and subsidies provided by the Government primarily benefit Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents. These schemes seek to support our local workforce in upskilling and reskilling to improve their employability, as well as to meet the industry and enterprises' skills demand.

2. Training subsidies for MOE/SSG-supported modular courses and Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) courses that Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents enjoy are extended only to Long Term Visitor Pass Plus (LTVP+) holders, who are eligible foreign spouses of Singapore Citizens, in recognition that they are likely to remain in Singapore, contribute to the financial support for their families and contribute to our economy.

3. Since October 2021, the expenditure on CET subsidies for LTVP+ holders enrolled in modular courses and WSQ courses is less than 0.02% of the total CET subsidies that SSG provides for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.