Speech by Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for Education, at the SkillsFuture Festival Opening Forum

1. A very good morning to all our friends, partners, colleagues. I am delighted to join you here today at the SkillsFuture Opening Forum.

2. This year marks not only the 10th anniversary of our national SkillsFuture movement, but it's also 60 years of Singapore's independence as a nation. So let us take stock of where we are today, in order to better chart our way forward, together.

An Uncertain World

3. When we started the SkillsFuture journey in 2015, our mission was to help Singaporeans develop to their fullest potential throughout their lives, and to build a more fair and inclusive society.

4. I would say that this mission is even more important today, especially as our external environment grows increasingly uncertain. So, in a way, the last 10 years have allowed us to set a good foundation. Given the kind of rapid changes and tremendous uncertainty we see today, had we not stepped on this journey 10 years ago, I think our situation today will be very different.

1. Global trade tensions and eroding global norms are creating a lot of economic uncertainty. And I would say job uncertainty as well. This can be unsettling for our businesses who will find it challenging to plan ahead, and some may slow down their hiring. Because, in business, certainty is so important.
2. Technology also continues to advance rapidly and transform our livelihoods and way of life. Jobs that are here today may no longer be here tomorrow. Instead, new ones will appear.

5. So the question is, how do we equip our people to thrive amidst all of these changes? Whilst there is a lot of uncertainty ahead that we cannot control, we can choose how we prepare for it and how we respond to it.

1. Well, as a small and open economy, we make a living by being connected to the rest of the world. Singapore cannot close ourselves off and shield our people from change, like burying your head in the sand, while the world around us changes.
2. Instead, we must invest even more in our people to ensure that Singaporeans can adapt to change, retain our competitive advantage, and remain a valuable partner to the rest of the world.

A Decade of Progress, A Future of Promise

6. Now, in the ten years since we announced the SkillsFuture movement in 2015, I would say, if we take stock, we have come a long way.

7. First, we have built a high-quality, market-responsive and diverse Continuing Education and Training (CET) ecosystem, comprising our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs), over 700 registered private training providers, and our industry partners.

1. This diversity caters to the wide-ranging needs of our workforce, across all ages and professions.
2. And this allows us to provide multiple pathways for Singaporeans to upgrade.
   1. For example, in 2015, we launched the Work-Study Programmes, similar to apprenticeships in other countries, and this allows our learners to earn as they learn, with employers delivering part of the training.
   2. With the expansion of the Lifetime Cohort Participation Rate for universities from 2023, we have been increasing the number of publicly funded places for working adults to pursue degrees.

8. Within this ecosystem, we have piloted different models of partnership with industry, business associations and unions, to empower them to drive training – to be in the driver's seat.

1. For example, leading companies have stepped up in their sectors as SkillsFuture Queen Bee Companies to provide training support and advisory for smaller companies.
2. Intermediaries such as Singapore Business Federation, Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) have also come forward as Jobs-Skills Integrators in sectors that are more fragmented such as Precision Engineering, Wholesale Trade and Retail sectors, to integrate training and employment facilitation, addressing manpower challenges in those sectors.

9. And third, the Government also puts in place various schemes to empower our people and enterprises to pursue upskilling.

1. Most recently, we enhanced support for mature workers through the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme.
2. To support companies to undertake workforce transformation, we had also introduced the Enterprise Workforce Transformation Package.

10. These 10 years of efforts have borne fruit:

1. Today, over half a million people take up SSG-supported courses each year. This is about one-fifth of our resident workforce.
2. The number of employers who are sending their employees for training has also doubled since the launch of SkillsFuture, from around 12,000 in 2018 to over 24,000 in 2024. And most of these companies, I understand, are SMEs. I think it's a good sign that employers are themselves choosing to send their workers because they know that these causes will help their employees gain the skills that their company needs.

11. I am glad that so many Singaporeans and our companies have answered the call. But the SkillsFuture journey is far from over. Increasing training participation is not an end-goal in itself. Training must lead to good social and economic outcomes for Singaporeans and for Singapore.

12. We must build on these good foundations and do even more. In the next phase of SkillsFuture, there are three key shifts that we want to make:

1. First, we want to raise the quality of our Training and Adult Education sector;
2. Second, we want to strengthen employers' commitment to training;
3. And third, for us as individuals to take greater ownership of our own skills development.

13. Let me briefly elaborate.

Training Providers: Raising Quality of Training

14. First, as I said earlier, we want to raise the quality of our Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector, to strengthen the quality of training to better meet not just individuals' needs but also industry's needs.

15. Today, to ensure that our Adult Educators (AEs) are equipped with the right skills and tools to teach adult learners effectively, they have to complete a certification programme, developed and delivered by the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL).

16. Now, as technology and approaches to adult learning evolve, our Adult Educators themselves must keep upgrading, to keep up with industry developments and new training methods. The one-off certification programme we have today will not be enough.

17. That is why we will be introducing the Training and Adult Educator Professional Pathway (TAEPP), as a SkillsFuture framework for SkillsFuture Educators.

1. Under this pathway, we will introduce a requirement for our Adult Educators to continually upgrade themselves and clock practice hours, in order to remain registered as educators for SkillsFuture-supported courses.

18. At the same time, we want to bring in more practitioners directly from industry itself, into the pool of certified Adult Educators. They have current knowledge and their experience will be most relevant.

1. As such, we will offer more entry pathways for expert practitioners from industry, in selected professional sectors to be recognised and certified as Adult Educators.
2. For a start, we will work with the sectoral leads in the legal and healthcare sectors, such as the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL), to identify expert practitioners in their fields, and to nominate them for registration as Adult Educators. I think the best trainers are those currently from industry, coming in to train.

19. This new professional pathway will be implemented progressively by April next year. The Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) will work with NTUC, through the Education Services Union (ESU), to support Adult Educators going through this transition.

Employers: Strengthening Involvement in Training

20. Second, we will work with employers to strengthen the skills development of their workforce – to not only create conditions for their workers to pursue training, but to also recognise and reward employees for the skills that they have attained.

21. Many of our enterprises have already stepped up to support their employees for training, and they have reaped the benefits of doing so. For example, increased productivity, better employee satisfaction and talent retention, and higher revenue.

22. We understand that some employers may worry that their employees may choose to leave them for other companies after building up their skills with their current employer's support. This is an age-old concern. While this worry is natural, we must remember that this goes beyond firms losing out to other firms. Everyone will be worse off if we do not build up our human capital and our resilience as a sector and as a nation.

23. So, we need more of our employers to come on board, so we can turn this into a national movement that extends across our entire workforce and creates what I call a "Skills-First ecosystem". Cause that will give us an edge given the environment.

24. To support our employers, what we will do is that we will continue to grow our SkillsFuture Queen Bee companies to drive training in their sectors.

1. To date, over 35 leading enterprises have stepped up as Queen Bees across various sectors to deliver training and advisory to over 5,700 companies. Guided by our SkillsFuture Queen Bees, these companies sent three times more workers for training on average, compared to non-participating companies.

25. So today, I am happy to announce that we will be appointing and bringing onboard UOB, one of Singapore's most established financial institutions, as our newest SkillsFuture Queen Bee.

1. As part of this three-year appointment, UOB will champion skills development in AI, digitalisation and sustainability, benefitting approximately 200 SMEs and 800 of their employees.
2. Through UOB's SME Elevate Programme, our SMEs will gain access to comprehensive training programmes, substantial funding support, as well as one-to-one mentorship support.
3. UOB will also collaborate with IHLs such as the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) as training partners, to design skills training for our SMEs.

Taking Individual Ownership

26. Third, as individuals, we need to take charge of our own career health and skills development, especially in light of ongoing uncertainty and in light of the longer term near certainty of greater and more rapid changes.

27. As the Government, we are committed to continue investing in Singaporeans, so that you can thrive amidst fast-paced change.

1. Last year, we introduced the SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme to help mid-career Singaporeans pursue a significant skills reboot.
2. And earlier this year, we launched the Career and Skills Passport, which can help individuals take stock of our skills and help us make more informed training decisions.

28. To further support Singaporeans in making better-informed decisions about their careers and skills development, I am glad to announce that we will be enhancing the Lifelong Learning Institute (LLI), which supports Singaporeans' career health and skills development journey.

1. We will establish a new advisory centre within the LLI building to offer enhanced career guidance for individuals, up-to-date jobs-skills insights, and opportunities for industry exposure.
2. LLI will also organise more sectoral workshops, delivered in close partnership with employers and industry, to provide industry insights.

29. I encourage everyone to actively tap on these opportunities and tap on the support provided to equip ourselves to stay agile and relevant.

Conclusion

30. Ultimately, the continued success of the SkillsFuture movement will depend on each of us playing our part – the Government is committed to partnering individuals, our industry, and our training providers on this journey.

31. If we can work together, I am confident that Singapore and Singaporeans will continue to thrive, and overcome any uncertainties and challenges in the years ahead.

32. With that, good morning and thank you.