Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, Nee Soon GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (a) how many scams on claims have been reported and investigated since the implementation of SkillsFuture; and (b) what is the Ministry doing to stop cases of training providers pressuring citizens to sign up for courses by falsely telling them that their SkillsFuture credits will expire soon.
Response
1. Since January 2016, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has referred six instances of fraudulent claims to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) for investigation, of which two were major cases. The Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) has elaborated on these two cases in the House yesterday, including the actions that have been taken.
2. SSG has set in place specific marketing guidelines for training providers. It has issued advisory, warning and suspension letters to 27 training providers who have breached these guidelines. These errant organisations will be warned or suspended. SSG regularly conducts random ground audits to check compliance. The agency welcomes feedback from members of the public who spot or suspect any malpractice.
3. SSG has zero tolerance for any attempt by individuals, training providers or organisations to abuse its funding schemes that serve the interest of Singaporeans. SSG will not hesitate to act against such errant individuals or organisations.