SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) launched the Education (Training and Adult Education (TAE)) Industry Transformation Map (ITM) on February 1, covering one of the two sub-sectors under the Education ITM.
The ITM was developed in collaboration with tripartite partners (i.e. involving the unions and industry), building on the Training and Adult Education Sector Transformation Plan introduced in November 2016.
Roadmaps are being developed for 23 industries to address issues within each industry and deepen partnerships between the Government, firms, industries, trade associations and chambers. The ITMs are grouped into 6 broad clusters: Manufacturing, Built environment, Trade & connectivity, Essential Domestic Services, Modern services and Lifestyle.
Unlike the other ITMs which focus on jobs creation within their industry, the TAE industry is a critical enabling infrastructure, supporting industry transformation through skill development and enabling Singaporeans to stay relevant and competitive in the economy. A high quality and responsive TAE industry would help address the critical and emerging skills needs of businesses and individuals across all industries, through upskilling and reskilling.
In fact, skills frameworks have been developed as part of each ITM, to support students and professionals in achieving better understanding of the range of career pathways, skills requirements and available training programmes, within the sector and sub-sectors. For instance, under the recently released Environmental Services ITM, the Skills Framework for Environmental Services was developed by SSG, Workforce Singapore (WSG) and National Environment Agency (NEA), employers, industry associations, unions, and education and training institutions, in support of the Jobs and Skills pillar in the ITM.
The Education (TAE) ITM has three key thrusts – 1) Innovation, 2) Jobs and Skills, and 3) Productivity.
It recommends that TAE providers should reposition themselves by providing training that is tightly integrated with business solutions to support business performance and meet the skills needs of the industries they serve. SSG will support training providers in acquiring better understanding of the jobs and critical and emerging skills needs identified in the different ITMs. Training providers should also make reference to the Skills Frameworks to structure their course offerings.
To achieve the necessary innovation in training delivery, TAE providers are encouraged to enhance learning delivery and effectiveness through blended and workplace learning. SSG plans to roll out out new programmes on pedagogical and modular curriculum design, to equip adult educators in making learning even more relevant and accessible. SSG will also be increasing the adoption of innovative learning approaches through iN.LEARN 2020, which was launched in October 2015 to support TAE providers in innovative pedagogy and technology-enabled learning.
Under the jobs and skills thrust, SSG will continue to enhance recognition of the TAE workforce and improve the career and skills pathways for adult educators, in view of the emerging skills required by the TAE sector.
Currently, there are more than 800 TAE professionals recognised for both their pedagogical and professional excellence under the Adult Education Professionalisation (AEP) initiative, which was launched in 2015. They are recognised as Associate Adult Educators, Specialist Adult Educators, or Adult Education Fellows. More are expected to come onboard.
During 2017, SSG also gave out the inaugural batch of 34 SkillsFuture Study Awards for the TAE sector to encourage TAE professionals to pursue skills mastery and deepen their professional competencies. SSG plans to make available up to 60 SkillsFuture Study Awards for the TAE sector in 2018.
SSG’s Institute for Adult Learning will also continue to refresh its training programmes for TAE professionals in order to support their skills deepening journey. A Skills Framework for the TAE sector will be developed to provide key information on the TAE sector, career pathways, occupations and job roles, as well as existing and emerging skills required for the occupations and job roles.
SSG has already taken steps in the area of productivity. The Training Exchange has been rolled out in the MySkillsFuture portal, to improve the accessibility of training programmes for both companies and individuals. This provides a comprehensive listing of the courses that are supported under SkillsFuture.
To enhance information sharing on course quality between training providers and individuals, SSG piloted the Training Quality and Outcome Measurement (TRAQOM) initiative across five areas of training, covering about 700 courses. The information is published on the MySkillsFuture portal. It enables individuals to make more informed training choices and provides a standardised feedback channel for training providers to improve their courses. SSG plans to expand TRAQOM to all areas of training in phases.
A community feedback feature has also been implemented on the MySkillsFuture Portal to better engage individuals and provide greater transparency on course information. This community feedback feature allows learners to share their views on the quality of their learning experience.
To support the training providers, SSG will make available several infrastructural solutions to help them reduce the burden of training administration and improve customer service. An upcoming solution is a set of training management solutions for TAE providers, which are connected with SSG’s administrative systems. Such solutions will enable training providers to transact more seamlessly with SSG.
