07/09/2024

Recognising Skills, Building Careers at Skillsfuture Festival

The annual SkillsFuture Festival will run from 9 July – 21 August this year. It was launched today by Minister for Education, Mr Chan Chun Sing at the SkillsFuture Forum held at the Lifelong Learning Institute. Minister of State for Education, Ms Gan Siow Huang, was also in attendance and witnessed the launch.

With the theme “Recognising Skills, Building Careers”, the forum engaged various industry leaders on their insights and strategies in the skills development of their workforce. The theme reflects the SkillsFuture movement’s renewed emphasis to positively impact Singaporeans’ career health through upskilling opportunities, and the key role that employers have in manpower development.

Minister Chan shared that, under the national SkillsFuture movement, companies need to do their part in clarifying the skills they need, for their hiring and their employees’ career development. To exemplify what the industry can do, the Singapore Computer Society (SCS), with support from SSG, has introduced the Skills Pathway for Cybersecurity. This initiative brings together key employers in the sector, together with Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and Association of Information Security Professionals (AiSP), to recognise the certifications that individuals need to obtain, to be considered for internships and interviews.

Minister Chan also spoke about how our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) are enhancing their micro-credentials offerings, which provide flexible pathways for adult learners to upgrade to full qualifications. Learners can stack micro-credentials towards achieving a full qualification at their own pace. For example, five Modular Certificates taken at a polytechnic can stack to a part-time diploma. In emerging skill areas, industry intermediaries will curate relevant micro-credentials offered by IHLs and endorse their completion via industry-recognised credentials. For example, the Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) has rolled out the IES Chartered Engineer (Singapore), a certification in the Sustainability sector, identifying micro-credentials in the IHLs which are relevant to sustainable engineering so that learners who complete the required micro-credentials and pass an assessment interview can be certified as a Chartered Engineer (Singapore) in the Sustainability sector.

Suite of activities for everyone

Following the forum, the SkillsFuture Festival 2024 will continue to build on the theme of career-building through upskilling. It will feature a line-up of about 140 events and activities to empower Singaporeans to learn for life, and support enterprises to invest in the skills development of their workforce. About 300 community, education and industry partners are participating in the Festival.

Key events include roadshows such as the SkillsFuture Roadshow, and the Jobs and Skills Roadshow organised by SkillsFuture Singapore and Workforce Singapore, for individuals to learn more about available training and employment opportunities as well as to find out more about the SkillsFuture Level Up programme. Individuals can also visit the THRIVE@libraries events held at the National Library Board’s libraries to learn topics on personal development and professional growth such as Artificial Intelligence, Career Development and Personal Wellbeing. Workshops on upskilling and career guidance as well as learning activities in the care, digital and green economy will also be conducted at the various  Community Development Councils. In addition, enterprises can participate in the Enterprise Series programmes to learn about emerging and in-demand skills, available support and resources, as well as network with like-minded peers. More details of the events are in Annex A.

Mr Tan Kok Yam, Chief Executive of SSG, said: “SkillsFuture Festival is a showcase of the innovations and achievements in continual education, by institutions, companies and individuals. This is a special year, as we level up the SkillsFuture movement to be a national programme that meaningfully impacts our livelihood, improves our career health, and strengthens our industries. Through the Festival, SSG hopes to celebrate our partners who have contributed immensely to SkillsFuture, and involve more Singaporeans and companies in the movement.”

For more information on the SkillsFuture Festival 2024, please visit SkillsFuture.gov.sg/Festival.