SkillsFuture training, culture of learning needed to keep adults competent: Chan Chun Sing
More than 25,000 Singaporeans have used the S$4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up disbursed last May, adds Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang
SINGAPORE’S job-specific SkillsFuture efforts must be coupled with a “general culture” of reading, to maintain adults’ literacy proficiency and ability to process and manage information, Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing said in Parliament on Wednesday (Jan 8).
This was after a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD’s) Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) found that Singapore’s adult literacy proficiency is below the OECD average.
The education minister said that further studies would be needed to understand the findings, but raised several factors for the observed trends.
First, the cohort effect. Singapore’s education system has developed rapidly, with younger cohorts have benefited from significantly improved educational opportunities, compared with earlier cohorts, he said.
Second, the atrophy effect could mean that acquired skills decline after adults leave formal education, possibly because such skills are less frequently used or deliberately honed at work.
Third, the obsolescence effect needs to be considered, where rapidly-changing market demands, technological advancement and enterprise transformation could mean skills become less relevant or even obsolete at the workplace.
BT in your inbox
Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.
“There is also growing research interest on how technology has changed the way we consume and process information, with many people moving away from complex writing to shorter social media posts and videos,” said Chan.
“As cognitive outsourcing becomes more prevalent with AI (artificial intelligence), there is a risk of erosion of deep thinking and reflection.” But Chan also made the point that OECD-assessed skills are not the only ones that affect employability, and said that other data points should be considered.
These include whether workers possess competitive job-specific skills, and economy-level metrics such as employment rate, the number of companies investing good jobs in Singapore, and whether workers command good wages.
But he recognised the need to “continuously upskill and reskill throughout life” to mitigate the atrophy and obsolescence effects. “To this end, the government has been investing heavily in continuous education and training through SkillsFuture, and this is a key pillar of our refreshed social compact under Forward Singapore.
Top training area
Responding to separate parliamentary questions about SkillsFuture utilisation, Minister of State for Education Gan Siow Huang said that as at end-November 2024, more than 25,000 Singaporeans aged 40 and above have used the S$4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up that was disbursed last May.
In the seven months, information and communication technologies was the top training area, covering skills such as digital marketing and data visualisation, she said.
Gan added that the courses are evaluated through close consultation with the sector, agencies, industry partners and training providers to understand current and emerging needs. Curated courses are those that “have been known to provide better employment outcomes”, as well as through feedback from employers and course attendees.
Chan also addressed several supplementary questions.
Asked by People’s Action Party Member of Parliament (MP) Foo Mee Har about whether the government would consider lowering the age threshold for enhanced training subsidies from 40 to 35, he said: “We keep that option open, depending on the market demand.”
But the current threshold was set given available resources and urgency, the minister said, noting that surveys showed support is “most critical and most urgent” for those above 40 years old.
Chan also highlighted the “deluge of information” in today’s world, and highlighted the Ministry of Education’s (MOE’s) efforts to help people “to distill, discern, and to discover”.
While it has focused on pedagogical developments in schools and pre-schools in past decades, it has also now spending effort to develop learning in adults.
The Institute of Adult Learning, for example, has been tasked to look at adult pedagogies and how technology can be used to customise learning for adults of various age groups.
Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim asked whether there should be programmes at earlier levels of the formal schooling that would foster interest in knowledge and learning acquisition. He also questioned whether Singapore’s “high-stakes testing culture” is responsible for the lack of retention.
The education minister responded: “Of course, the foundation is important, just as the need for us to upskill and reskill continuously is important.”
MOE has thus been inculcating a “learn more, test less” culture, he said, trying to inspire a “joy of learning ... so that there’s an innate desire to want to learn, not just for the exams, but to learn for life”.
Tests are but a means to evaluate and inform individuals, so that they can be placed into learning environments that best suit them, so that they continue to grow, he added.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
