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Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower in reply to the Debate On Applied Study In Polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education Review (ASPIRE) Motion

Preamble

  1. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the motion and welcome the ASPIRE Committee’s recommendations.
  2. We are starting from a strong foundation to achieve this. Today, we have a comprehensive education and training system that many countries want to emulate.
  3. MOM and WDA have always encouraged our workers, graduates and non-graduates alike, to embrace lifelong learning, to constantly learn, unlearn and relearn, in order to remain relevant and competitive over their career cycles and in the midst of rapid and unpredictable change. Member Mrs Lina Chiam, questioned if individuals who would have gone through the WDA Singapore workforce skills qualifications had indeed benefited in terms of tangible outcomes. Let me inform this house that in a study commissioned by WDA in 2012, it is found that for individuals who went through the WDA Singapore Workforce skills qualifications or WSQ training, we see higher wages as compared to workers of a similar profile but without WSQ training. In fact, the returns from training were even more significant for low wage workers. Since 2009, WDA has also carried out an outcome evaluation survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the WSQ training. Based this survey results, trainees have generally reported two outcomes - better job opportunities and improved efficiencies at work after undergoing WSQ training.
  4. In the Global Competitiveness Report published last week, Singapore has remained the 2nd most competitive economy for 4 consecutive years, and part of it is due to our quality higher education and training. We will continue to invest in every individual to help each of them realise his or her potential, through multiple pathways and regardless of where they started from.
  5. The recommendations by the ASPIRE Committee provide a further push in this direction. So, rather than what Mrs Lina Chiam had talked about in terms of creating new initiatives for the sake of creating new initiatives, this is really about pushing further ahead to invest in every individuals to help them realise their potential through multiple pathways, but this endeavour is not the Government’s job alone. Students, workers, parents, employers, unions, education and training institutions, and society at large, all have important parts to play.
  6. Fundamentally, we need to shift towards greater recognition for skills and competencies -- not merely educational attainments ---, and to value individuals for who they are and what they can contribute, regardless of their qualifications or background.

    Shift Towards Greater Recognition for Skills Will Be A Long Journey

    Individuals
  7. Individuals will have to seize opportunities to learn and deepen their skills and knowledge. Our education system offers diverse pathways for students to learn at their own pace and to develop their unique talent and skills.
  8. As Er Dr Lee Bee Wah rightly pointed out yesterday, the academic route will continue to be relevant, especially for those who are academically inclined.
  9. But the academic route is not the only way to success. As Mr Heng Chee How has commented earlier, the attainment of a qualification should never be an end in itself. It is the learning and the application of the learning that counts. Many employers also place more emphasis on soft skills such as leadership, humility, adaptability as well as positive attitude and worth ethics.
  10. Ultimately, it is about knowing our personal interests, strengths and weaknesses and finding the pathway that works best for us. It is about pursuing education and training that is relevant and not about chasing a degree at all costs. The academic and vocational routes need not be binary. Just like the German apprenticeship model, the pursuit of a vocational skills route does not mean that a person cannot pursue a university education later.
  11. To help students make informed education, training and career choices, MOM and WDA are working with MOE on ASPIRE’s recommendation to improve education, training and career guidance (ECG) in schools, which I will elaborate on in a while.

    Employers
  12. Employers will also have to value and invest in developing every worker, and assess and reward employees based on their skills and work performance, not just their paper qualifications or seniority, as Ms Jessica Tan and Mr Mohamad Ismail Hussein rightly pointed out. In fact, a key criterion for a change in the degree-at-all -cost mindset would be how well employers recognise and reward employees based on their performance regardless of their starting qualifications.
  13. Dr Intan suggested yesterday to set up foreign dependency ratios at the PME-level, to prevent employers from circumventing our work pass framework by hiring foreign workers for PME jobs and locals at the support-level.
  14. As part of our efforts to promote fair employment practices, we will engage firms with a low proportion of Singaporean PMEs relative to others in the sector and help them develop their local manpower pool and address their shortcomings. But there are some PME jobs that require specialised skill sets, which firms may be unable to find enough Singaporeans for. We have, however, been raising the bar for qualifying as an Employment Pass holder in the last few years, and we will continue to monitor and make further adjustments if needed.
  15. But more importantly, what we hope to achieve through ASPIRE, is to equip more Singaporeans with the right skills sets needed by industry, and help them to be recognised for their skills and be able to take on the quality jobs in the economy and progress in them.
  16. Supporting employees to deepen their skills and expertise will not only help the company raise productivity and improve the bottomline. When employees feel valued, employers are also better able to attract and retain workers, especially in this tight labour market.
  17. We are also enhancing our support for employers. MOM and WDA introduced the Enterprise Training Support (ETS) scheme in April last year, to support employers who wish to send their staff for training, enhance their in-house training infrastructure and capabilities, or implement progressive HR systems.
  18. Under ETS, the Government has set aside approximately $20 million to provide funding support for organisations in the form of training, capability and HR development grants. By June this year, 121 companies have come on board the ETS scheme, and Mr Thomas Chua may be pleased to note that, of these, 71% are SMEs. They have come on board to train about 28,200 local workers.
  19. The Government will continue to work with our tripartite partners, to support individuals and employers in our shift towards greater skills recognition.

    MOM And WDA’s Roles In Supporting ASPIRE’s Recommendations
  20. Tripartite cooperation has been a hallmark of Singapore. A close nexus between the government, training providers, union and employers is especially critical in helping to deliver the ASPIRE recommendations.
  21. As PM announced during this year’s National Day Rally, DPM Tharman will be chairing a new tripartite committee to develop an integrated system of education, training, and career progression for all Singaporeans, and drive industry support and social recognition for individuals to progress based on skills. MOM and WDA will fully support the work of this new committee.

    Expanded Role of WDA
  22. WDA will also undergo a major expansion to support the new Committee, including the development and implementation of the relevant ASPIRE recommendations targeted at polytechnic and ITE graduates. This will be on top of WDA’s existing roles to provide quality education, training and career guidance, Continuing Education and Training (CET) and employment facilitation for working adults and the unemployed, which Mr K Karthikeyan will be happy to note, we will continue to strengthen. I will elaborate on two key initiatives - (1) enhancing education, training and career guidance, and (2) introducing more place-and-train programmes.

    Enhancing Education, Training And Career Guidance
  23. First, education and work should not be seen as separate and compartmentalised passages of life. Often, when students reach their graduation year, they are uncertain of which sector to go into, what job to take and where their decisions will lead them. Some find that their course of study does not open the doors to their dream job. Others simply take on the job that offers the highest starting pay, and many subsequently job-hop without clear career objectives.
  24. Education, training and Career Guidance or ECG is therefore important to help individuals make well-informed decisions about their education, training and career choices right from the start. ECG needs to start from young and extend all the way to working adults.
  25. And it has to be tailored to different needs. For young students, ECG aims to help them explore different areas to figure out their interests and strengths early on, and provide them with a clearer idea on the wide range of education options available. For tertiary students, it is about preparing them to enter the workforce, and helping them explore the types of careers that they wish to go into. For working adults, ECG can help serve as a stocktake, and enable them to explore learning opportunities to further build up their skills, or retrain in another field should they wish to switch careers.
  26. In support of ASPIRE’s recommendations, MOE recently announced that they will provide more resources to enhance ECG in primary and secondary schools, polytechnics and ITE, through providing trained ECG officers and a new ECG programme.
  27. WDA will be developing an online integrated national ECG portal that will be used to deliver ECG to students starting from secondary schools and throughout a Singaporean’s career. In developing this integrated ECG framework, WDA will work closely with MOE and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that efforts will be coordinated across schools, post-secondary education institutions and WDA’s career centres.

    Place-and-Train Programmes
  28. Next, WDA will support more employer-driven, workplace-based training such as Place-and-Train programmes. Not only will these facilitate the transition from school to work, working and learning in real-world environments will enable fresh graduates to apply and deepen their skills as many in this house have alluded to, in the areas that they were trained for. It also provides an additional option for polytechnic and ITE graduates to attain industry-recognised skill certifications.
  29. Take Ms Ong Teng Teng for example. Ms Ong enrolled herself in WDA’s Place-and-Train programme for Enrolled Nurses in April 2008, and embarked on a fast-tracked journey into the nursing profession.
  30. After an 18-month training at ITE College East, with course fees and monthly training allowances co-sponsored by WDA and her employer, Ang Mo Kio–Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, she quickly built up a strong foundation in nursing and worked as an Enrolled Nurse at the hospital. Within 4 years, she was promoted to a Staff Nurse, and has continued to pursue skills upgrading, by earning her diploma in Nursing at NYP.
  31. With the strong support from her employer and mentorship from Professor Edward Poon, Ms Ong emerged as the top graduate of her cohort and received multiple awards, including the Tay Eng Soon Award which recognises ITE graduates who achieved exceptional results for further studies at a polytechnic. And she does not intend to stop. To further enhance her skills, Ms Ong is intending to pursue a degree in Nursing.
  32. Indeed, this example reflects what ASPIRE is and is not. ASPIRE is certainly not cause for degree bashing. It does not aim to discourage upgrading to degrees, but it does encourage people to find out their interests and strengths, before choosing to deepen their skills via the vocational or academic route or both.
  33. In fact, if an individual has found his niche and would like to continually upgrade and eventually pursue a degree which industry recognises, then this is what we should encourage, as opposed to the mentality that getting any degree is better than no degree”.
  34. We will extend WDA’s existing PnT programmes for working adults like Ms Ong, to polytechnic and ITE graduates via the new ASPIRE PnT programmes. WDA will continue to provide matching of polytechnic and ITE graduates to progressive employers who are committed to support the graduates in contextualising what they have learnt and deepen their skills through on-the-job learning and further upgrading through multiple pathways.
  35. To ensure industry relevance, the Place-and-Train programmes at polytechnics and ITE will be developed in collaboration with industry, and we have identified sectors to pilot this programme from 2016. These range from Biologics to Logistics in the polytechnics, and Marine & Offshore Engineering to Pastry & Baking in ITE.
  36. WDA will share more details on these programmes as and when they are ready.
  37. Moving forward, we are reviewing our CET Masterplan, to improve the quality and effectiveness of our CET system in anticipation of future challenges and uncertainties. WDA will also work with our tripartite partners to develop the sectoral competency frameworks under ASPIRE, that all stakeholders can make reference to. More details will be announced shortly.

    Conclusion
  38. Even as we are having this debate about ASPIRE’s recommendations, yesterday evening a young diploma graduate came to see me with his mother at my MPS. He asked me to appeal for a study loan for him to take an external degree with a private educational institution as his family was financially strapped. I asked him if he would consider working first, to apply his skills acquired during his diploma and pursue a degree later. But he told me very decisively that he wants to complete all his studies before starting work!
  39. Certainly, this shows that a cultural change in society’s attitudes towards paper qualifications that ASPIRE calls for will not take place overnight and will require a whole of society effort. As several members of this House such as Ms Denise Phua, Mr Zaqy Mohamad and Mr K Karthikeyan spoke about yesterday, we require all hands on deck to help every Singaporean maximise their potential and achieve their aspirations for better wages, better jobs and a better future through multiple pathways.
  40. With that, Madam, I support the motion.