MOE FY2025 Committee of Supply Debate Response by Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang

Maximising Our Workforce's Potential: Partnerships in Skillsfuture

1. Our nation's SkillsFuture story started in 2015. Our aim was to help Singaporeans develop to their fullest potential throughout life, and also to build a fair and inclusive society.

2. In the same year, we introduced the SkillsFuture Credit Scheme, giving $500 to Singaporeans, to empower adults to continue to learn, upskill and reskill, whether in their early career, mid-career, or silver years.

1. Singaporeans use the Credit to improve their employment prospects, or simply, to pursue their interests and acquire skills to lead more fulfilling lives.

3. In 2020, we embarked on the Next Bound of SkillsFuture to strengthen enterprise ownership of upskilling.

1. It is challenging but necessary, to strengthen the link between individual upskilling, employment outcomes and business competitiveness.
2. We stepped up efforts to support employers in building up workplace learning and capabilities in upskilling their workers.
3. We also pioneered the SkillsFuture Queen Bees.
   1. This marked a key shift to engage industry leaders as Queen Bees to uplift their sectors with skills advisory and training support for companies.
   2. Today, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has appointed 37 SkillsFuture Queen Bees in 14 sectors, benefitting 5,300 companies in these sectors.
   3. ST Engineering Land Systems Ltd is the latest appointed SkillsFuture Queen Bee, supporting the precision engineering sector.
   4. It will work with NTUC's Company Training Committee (CTC), allowing companies in precision engineering to also benefit from NTUC's expertise and resources.

4. This deliberate shift in focus has seen results.

1. The number of employers participating in training supported by SSG has doubled from around 12,000 in 2018 to more than 24,000 in 2024, and the majority are SMEs.
2. In the last three years, SSG disbursed about $440 million annually in course fee subsidies. More than 40% of the subsidies went to trainees who were sponsored by their companies.
3. Companies that sponsored workers for training also saw positive returns in productivity, as seen in an MTI study in 2021.

5. In line with these efforts, the Government has been stepping up expenditure on Continuing Education and Training (CET), from $0.5 billion in 2015, to more than $1 billion in 2024. With the investments, we significantly:

1. Enhanced our landscape of industry-relevant training programmes, catering to training needs for adults across different ages, professions and sectors; and
2. We have helped more individuals and employers access such training through enhanced subsidies, especially for mid-careerists and SMEs.
   1. While the Training Participation Rate of the resident labour force fell, we saw an increase in the number of employees sponsored by their companies for SSG-supported training programmes.
   2. In 2024, more than 550,000 individuals, and that is about one-fifth of our local workforce, took up training with subsidies from SSG, about a 7% increase compared to 2023.

6. Ms Foo Mee Har suggested that we target funding at programmes with stronger outcomes.

1. We fully agree with that. In fact, SSG has already moved in this direction.
2. From this year, the highest level of SSG's funding is given only to courses that deliver strong employment outcomes, such as the SkillsFuture Work-Study Programmes which combine classroom learning with structured on-the-job training.

7. Today, SkillsFuture has become one of the key pillars of our refreshed social compact.

1. The success of the SkillsFuture movement must ultimately be measured by whether Singaporeans have the confidence and competence to seize emerging opportunities in life, and also whether enterprises can find skilled workers among the local workforce to capture new business opportunities.
2. To this end, we must continue to strengthen the key partnerships between employers, individuals, and training providers. They are the cornerstone to the SkillsFuture movement.

8. Let me now highlight the priorities for SkillsFuture going forward.

9. First, deepening the involvement of employers in skills development and training must remain a key priority.

1. Employers complement the Government in skills investment and create enabling conditions to support workers' upskilling.
2. They help inform individuals' training decisions when they identify their skills needs and articulate them.
3. Employers can also create greater confidence for workers when they recognise the skills and competencies attained.

10. We will double down on our current suite of support measures in helping employers and enterprises, especially SMEs, take relevant skills action. For example, by providing:

1. Jobs and skills insights, online resources and tools
2. As well as substantial support to defray training and other workforce development costs such as
   1. Generous SSG course fee subsidies at up to 90% for SMEs;
   2. A fresh $10,000 SkillsFuture Enterprise Credit from second half of 2026, which will be enhanced to allow out-of-pocket training costs to be offset upfront; and
   3. Corporate tax deduction for eligible training that has been enhanced from 100% to 400%, up to $400,000 per year, under the Enterprise Innovation Scheme.

11. We cannot achieve this alone and we will require the partnerships of our sector intermediaries.

1. For example, we are piloting Jobs-Skills Integrators (JSITs) in the precision engineering, retail and wholesale trade sectors that have higher concentrations of SMEs and mature workers.
   1. JSITs play a critical role in identifying jobs and skills needs in the sector, connecting employers with appropriate solutions.
   2. Skechers Singapore is a company that has benefited from this pilot.
   3. Working with JSIT-Retail, led by the Singapore National Employers Federation, in partnership with NTUC and Workforce Singapore (WSG),
   4. Skechers implemented redesigned job roles and training, to streamline and automate its inventory tracking and goods retrieval system.
   5. Skechers successfully achieved a higher productivity operating model, and upskilled its workers to take on higher-value roles such as data analysis and route planning.

12. Encouraging employers to adopt skills-first HR practices will be a key next bound focus.

1. To support that, WSG and SSG have launched Career Health SG, which seeks to equip employers with tools and resources to support skills-first hiring and develop their workforce. More details on the initiative will be progressively rolled out this year.
2. Next, maximising individuals' potential. Career Health SG also signals a key shift to bridge careers and skills. Through the initiative, we hope to empower individuals to plan their careers and chart their careers and skills journey. More details on Career Health SG will be covered in MOM's COS segment today.

13. To support individuals taking ownership, we have expanded opportunities in upskilling. Associate Professor Jamus Lim asked whether entry criteria to certain local universities could be eased to take in all students as long as they meet the absolute entry criteria.

1. Since the expansion of the Lifetime Cohort Participation Rate from 2023, we have seen more students admitted to our Autonomous Universities. This means that more Singaporeans have the opportunity to take up significant training, not just at 18 years old but throughout their lives.
2. Our approach is not to perpetuate a paper chase. Rather, our approach is to support purposeful, timely attainment of relevant knowledge and skills, with the qualification serving to reflect the mastery attained.
3. We remain committed to providing opportunities to realise the diverse strengths and aspirations of our students, while keeping in mind the needs of our economy and employers' confidence in the quality of our graduates.

14. We have significantly enhanced training support for mid-career Singaporeans aged 40 and above, who are at higher risk of skills obsolescence.

1. Since launching the SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up of $4,000 in May 2024,
2. I am heartened to see that more than 28,000 Singaporeans have tapped on the $4,000 top-up.
3. To ensure that the Credit utilisation ultimately supports meaningful careers, as pointed out by Ms Foo Mee Har and Ms Mariam Jaafar, we have curated over 7,000 courses with stronger employment outcomes, including:
   1. market-recognised full qualifications and their stackable micro-credential constituents offered by the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs);
   2. SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme (SCTP) courses, and so on.
4. d. SSG will work with sector agencies, industry and training providers to provide these courses and to refresh them regularly. This is to ensure they are of high quality and can support economic and manpower needs.

15. Mr Song Wentao, who is 56 years old this year, is one of the beneficiaries of the SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up.

1. After 30 years in the defence and maritime industries, Mr Song's role was unfortunately made redundant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. He saw the potential to make a meaningful career switch, choosing the Healthcare sector. He took up a 5-month SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme (SCTP) in Therapy Support at HMI Institute.
3. After receiving 90% course fee subsidies, he fully offset the remaining out-of-pocket fees of $1,300 using the $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career).
4. Mr Song graduated from the course in September last year, and is now working as a Therapy Assistant at St. Andrew's Community Hospital where he finds meaning in supporting elderly stroke patients in their rehabilitation journey.

16. From 10 March, mid-career Singaporeans who pursue full-time training like Mr Song can apply for the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance.

1. The training allowance is sized at 50% of their average salary over the latest 12-month period, and the payout will range from $300 to $3,000 per month.
2. From next year, we will further extend the training allowance to selected part-time training, fixed at $300 per month. Eligible part-time programmes will include: part-time SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme and part-time full qualifications and their stackable micro-credential constituents offered by our IHLs. More details will be shared later.
3. Individuals can receive training allowance for a maximum of 24 months, regardless of full-time or part-time training.
4. On Dr Wan Rizal's question on support for lower-wage workers' training, MOM will enhance the Workfare Skills Support to provide a similar monthly training allowance to lower-wage workers aged 30 and above who pursue long-form full-time or part-time training.

17. These support measures also apply to freelancers that Ms See Jinli Jean asked about.

1. Freelancers aged 40 and above could use the $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit to offset out-of-pocket training fees and also apply for the training allowance when pursuing full-time or part-time training.

18. Finally, SkillsFuture requires the support of the Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector that provides the crucial last-mile delivery of training to our adult learners.

19. Mr Patrick Tay suggested consolidating the CET ecosystem to break down programme silos.

1. Today, we have taken a market-driven approach, allowing diverse training providers – IHLs, accredited CET Centres, and private training providers to provide training.
2. This has helped to expand CET capacity and enabled the CET system to be responsive to diverse and evolving needs of different sectors and CET learners.

20. On the Members' suggestions to streamline programme offerings where needed and strengthen course accreditation,

1. SSG has stepped up its quality assurance framework, to regularly prune the CET system of poorer-performing courses and training providers.
2. We are also continually improving our sign-posting of training opportunities for both individuals and employers, so that they may better navigate the ecosystem.

21. Just as important, we must push for higher quality and professional standards within the TAE sector.

22. Today, the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) supports adult educators through training courses to keep their skills current with industry developments, and professional development programmes.

23. Going forward, we will also explore new ways to support adult educators and professionalise the TAE sector.

24. These are currently being studied, and we hope to share more soon.

25. Before I conclude, I would like to quote our former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who first spoke about SkillsFuture in 2014:

"We must be a place where everyone has the opportunity to build on their strengths, developing the skills that enable them to maximise their potential, earn their own success and contribute to society. It's about respecting the innate dignity of every citizen – the sense of fulfilment that comes from playing their full role and being valued for their contributions to society. It is the way we create a truly inclusive society."

26. Mr Tharman's vision of SkillsFuture remains relevant today.

27. To realise the SkillsFuture vision, we must build strong partnerships with employers, unions, training providers, and empower individuals to make informed choices on lifelong learning. The government will play an enabling and integrator role. Together, we can help every Singaporean realise their potential and enable businesses to thrive, even in an age of disruptions.