Around 80,000 Singaporeans have as yet claimed the SkillsFuture credit amounting to more than S$20 million approximately in the first eight months of the year. The full-year expenditure is expected to hit S$30-million, reports Channel News Asia.
These figures were revealed by Ong Ye Kung, Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) at a future on the future economy held at Singapore University of Technology and Design, last week.
Straits Times reveals, “In all, about $22.5 million have been used under the SkillsFuture Credit scheme introduced in January for more than two million people.” On these lines SkillsFuture Singapore told The Sunday Times, “This is an encouraging number to start.” Later advised Singaporeans to not rush into the scheme, as it’s important to understand the skills in demand and the specific training needs, before signing up to use the credit effectively for skills training.
The credits do not expire and will be topped up at various intervals, so they can be accumulated for more expensive courses. While SSG later added, “No decisions have been made yet on the timing and quantum of the next top-up.”
Since the SkillsFuture credit has been useful in helping people think about their training needs, Ong said more guidance is required on the lines of helping people select suitable courses. This news comes as Singapore aims to transform itself from being a regional headquarters or “control tower” economy into a “runway economy” where companies conceptualise on ideas and take product to the market.
Ong further announced that the Government will soon be launching an initiative to help people choose courses called the SkillsFuture Engage. This programme will involve Community Development Councils, unions and self-help groups getting engaged in their communities’ training needs.
While the SkillsFuture has always been about encouraging people to learn new skills and fuel their aspirations for a successful career, Ong hopes community partners help achieve the same objective through SkillsFuture Engage.
Ong is of an opinion that community partners and union partners should be able to adapt and perform new tasks, for which they need to cut out on all administrative functions and instead focus their efforts on community initiatives and engage more members of the public. This would help people to successfully navigate career pathways with appropriate and timely guidance from the community councils.
The list of courses eligible for SkillsFuture Credit has expanded at a staggering pace. Today, there are over 16,000 courses, about 6,000 more than in January. They range from floral arrangement to business analytics.
Ong noted, several self-help groups have already started reaching out to help communities with skills upgrading and training. Plans are underway by the government to bringing in private sector companies and other intermediaries to be a part of the SkillsFuture system and strengthen the Singaporean core.
