- The Straits Times (08 October 2010) : Training: You can sign up independently
- The Straits Times (06 October 2010) : Lifelong learning for workers
Training: You can sign up independently
- The Straits Times, 08 October 2010
1. The ST commentary ("Lifelong learning for workers", ST, 6 Oct 2010) gives the wrong impression that workers need employers to enrol and to sponsor them for training in order to benefit from the funding support provided by the Government.
2. In reality, workers can independently sign up for many government-funded Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses at CET Centres appointed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and at the Polytechnics and Institutes of Technical Education. An estimated one third of participants under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR) self-initiated their training and enjoyed the same course fee support as the remaining two thirds whose training was employer initiated. Such self-initiated training will continue to receive government support even after SPUR. Workers, as well as the unemployed, who need further advice on the choice of CET courses and CET Centres can seek assistance from the career centres located at the five Community Development Centres (CDCs) or the Employment & Employability Institute (e2i).
3. However, SPUR was intended as a short-term measure to help employers and workers tide through the downturn. With a recovering economy and strong job market, we need to shift our focus to ensure continued skills relevance, productivity and employability for the longer term. Hence, we are taking a more targeted approach to CET to achieve greater impact and relevance. As announced previously, this will include the Workfare Training Scheme (WTS) for low-wage workers. We will also extend CET support and introduce more programmes for Professional Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs).
4. As rightly pointed out in the commentary, training is for life. The Government has therefore committed to investing $2.5 billion over the next 5 years on CET. A more targeted approach to CET, together with the strong support by the Government and concerted efforts by the unions and employers, will be more effective than an individual learning account in helping our workers pursue relevant life-long learning.
Lifelong learning for workers
- The Straits Times, 06 October 2010
The aptly named Spur scheme - Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience - proved a real boost to training and was a godsend to worker and employer alike during the recession. It comes to an end on Nov 30, and there are fears the hard-won focus on training may dissipate as a result.
Launched in late 2008 to cushion the blow of the global recession, Spur provided a $650 million government boost to training. It subsidises up to 90 per cent of a worker's training fees and pays the employer an allowance for the worker's wages while he or she is on training.
From Dec 1, the quantum of government subsidy for such training will fall. The rollback has triggered concerns there will be a loss of focus on training. Already, take-up rates for Spur are falling as the economy improves. In all, there were 251,000 places for Spur-funded training between December 2008 and June this year. Of these, most registered in the early months of the crisis: 191,000 from December 2008 until December last year. This year, as the economy improved, only 60,000 signed up between January and June.
Raising productivity is a strategic focus for the next decade, and it would be a pity if training were to take a back seat.
One way to keep up the training momentum achieved by Spur is to look into setting up individual training accounts for workers. This way, workers have more choice over training and can choose to go for training without needing the backing of employers.
Now, most courses funded by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) are employer-centric, meaning workers need to have their employers enrol them. Course fee subsidies go to employers. An employer-centric training and subsidy system has many strengths, chief of which is to get them to support training. But it also has disadvantages.
Employers tend to send workers for training in courses related directly to their work, but workers may want to take courses out of interest or for a future career switch. Many small- and medium-sized enterprises do not want to or simply cannot afford to release workers for training because they hire the least number of workers possible to keep costs down. Also, the unemployed may want to take up courses for future employment, but do not have employers to back them up.
An individual training account overcomes such problems, as workers can sign up for WDA-funded courses and enjoy the subsidised rates without needing an employer's backing. They can also co-pay for the courses by using funds from the account.
In fact, calls for an individual training account emerge every few years. One suggestion to hive off part of Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions to set up a skills training account was made in 2000. It was shot down by the Government so as not to dilute the use of CPF monies, which are meant for retirement. Some labour economists and leaders believe the time is ripe for individual training accounts.
For one thing, there is now a comprehensive Continuing Education and Training (CET) infrastructure, with industry-recognised training courses at subsidised rates. The first CET centre was set up in 2006. Today, there are 48 such centres islandwide delivering 24 Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) frameworks - a nationally recognised skills certification system - in various industries. Two CET campuses are due for completion in 2013.
Now that the CET framework is robust, Mr Ong Ye Kung, assistant secretary-general of the labour movement NTUC, says individual training accounts are worth considering so workers can have 'greater ownership and incentive to go for upgrading'. But he adds that there must be safeguards on the courses workers can use the account for.
Mr Zee Yoong Kang, chief executive of NTUC's training provider LearningHub, adds that an individual training account sends a strong signal of government support for individual responsibility in training. An individual account should complement, not replace, the existing framework, as most workers will want an employer's backing to take up courses so they do not suffer a loss in income. But individual training accounts can be useful for professionals, managers, executives and technicians, who form a growing segment of the workforce, he notes. How might such an account work?
National University of Singapore labour economist Shandre Thangavelu suggests one with voluntary contributions from workers or employers, with a matching contribution from the Government.
My suggestion is to take a leaf from the book of the Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA). Set up in 2008, this is an account opened automatically for eligible Singapore citizens aged seven to 20. The government tops up this account, while parents can also contribute. The money can be used for tertiary education or WSQ courses. PSEAs support pre-employment training and are closed automatically at age 30, with unused funds transferred to the CPF Ordinary Account.
But with Singapore's focus now firmly fixed on continuous skills upgrading, or in-employment training, the time is ripe for a Lifelong Learning Account (LLA). At age 30, the PSEA can be converted into an LLA. Let workers and the Government continue to top it up. This fund can be used for training from age 30 to, say, 55, at which point unused funds can be moved into the CPF Retirement Account. Such an account lets workers direct their own training. Employer-driven training tends to focus on job-specific skills with immediate payback.
The emphasis should shift from skills training to learning, which is more adaptive. 'We want to create a learning society, not a training society,' says Professor Thangavelu. NTUC deputy secretary-general Halimah Yacob, who has pushed for an individual training account for years, says policymakers and workers must see training as a way to foster lifelong learning, even if it does not raise productivity directly. The details of how such a lifelong learning account works can be ironed out.
But the message it should send loud and clear is this: Training is for life, even after Spur.