Speech for Dr Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Education & Sustainability and the Environment, SkillsFuture Festival @ NUS

Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

History of SkillsFuture

1. Good morning. It is good to be among you today at the SkillsFuture Festival 2025, hosted by National University of Singapore (NUS).

2. This year, we celebrate SG 60, marking the 60th year of Singapore's independence.

1. It is also the tenth anniversary of SkillsFuture, the national movement that we launched in 2015 to encourage lifelong learning and skills mastery.
2. It is timely then for us to reflect on our past as we chart the way forward.

3. Investing in our people and their skills lies at the heart of our nation-building journey.

1. We went through phases in our learning as a nation: the institutional development and progress we've made as a nation, in some ways, mirrors the lifelong learning journey of an individual. First, to survive in the 1960s, we focused on basic education and vocational training, in support of Singapore's rapid industrialisation.
2. In the 1980s, we strengthened industrial training, as our economy moved towards more capital-intensive, higher-technology industries.
3. Since the 2000s, we started on our journey of lifelong learning, ensuring that we can keep up with fast-evolving technological advancements.
4. In 2015, we then launched the SkillsFuture national movement to give this a further push, and this year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this movement. So, what we have done has been a consistent and incremental development, building on past successes and pushing new boundaries. This consistent, incremental, stackable credentialing process mirrors what we are now doing for individuals in the education process.

4. This consistent investment in our people has reaped dividends. Our workforce is highly skilled and globally competitive.

1. This stands us in good stead, as we navigate the economic headwinds ahead.
2. We know that protectionism is on the rise, and technological change will continue to accelerate.
3. This makes it all the more important for us to continue to invest in upskilling and reskilling throughout life, building on our strong foundations.

Role of IHLs in CET

5. A key partner in the SkillsFuture journey is our Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL).

1. Traditionally, IHLs have focused more on Pre-Employment Training (PET), supporting the expansion of higher education. In 2023, about 97% of the 2013 Primary 1 cohort progressed on to post-secondary education, which is a remarkable achievement, compared to where we were in 1965 – 60 years ago.
2. But with greater disruptions to the future of work, graduates will have to upskill and reskill after their first work-ready qualifications. Lifelong learning is critical for our people to stay employable and relevant across the span of longer careers, as life expectancy approaches 100 years.

6. It is heartening to see that Continuing Education and Training (CET) has become a part of the IHLs' core mission.

1. They are well-placed to do so because of their deep expertise in education, owing to what they have done in PET to make sure their undergraduates are ready for work – they have a very close nexus to the industry.
2. In 2024, about 188,000 individuals enrolled in CET programmes supported by MOE and SSG at our IHLs, a 40% increase in the last five years. To give you a sense of perspective, this 188,000 individuals is more than three times the PET intake across the IHLs.
3. This increase is due both to higher training demand as well as expanded upgrading pathways and opportunities that are being created.
   1. We've introduced Work-Study Programmes, allowing learners to earn and learn, with the training co-delivered by IHLs and employers. Today, about 1,300 ITE graduates, 10% of each graduating cohort, take up the ITE Work-Study Diploma, with good employment outcomes.
   2. We set up the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) to provide degree opportunities for Polytechnic upgraders and adult learners respectively. Recently, we have expanded the Lifetime Cohort Participation Rate to provide more publicly funded degree places for adult learners.

7. And as we have done all these, our IHLs have also innovated their CET programmes and delivery, making them more accessible to adult learners.

1. To allow for more bite-sized learning, most CET qualification programmes in IHLs are delivered in stackable micro-credentials. This allows working adults to better juggle work and upgrading.
2. From 2023, SIT has launched competency-based CET degrees, delivered through stackable micro-credentials.
   1. This is a new model of degree education that differs from traditional academic degrees.
   2. Each micro-credential is built around competencies or skillsets required by industry – an industry-driven approach. The combination of stackable micro-credentials, the part-time nature of how these institutions engage their learners and the involvement of industry means that working adults can pick up the skills that they need at their own pace, determined by their life and employment circumstances, and immediately apply them at their workplace – reaping the benefits in real-time.
3. The IHLs have also diversified their CET offerings beyond full qualifications to offer shorter skills booster programmes such as the SkillsFuture Series which addresses emerging skills needs in the Digital, Care and Green economies.
4. To support mid-career individuals to transition into new sectors or enhanced job opportunities, the IHLs launch SkillsFuture Career Transition Programmes (SCTPs), providing industry-relevant training with employment facilitation.
   1. This year collectively across all the IHLs, they are launching 54 new SCTP courses across sectors, with some targeting upskilling in emerging areas such as AI and immersive media.
   2. This means that more mid-career Singaporeans can benefit from these programmes. Those aged 40 and above will enjoy 90% course fee subsidies. They can offset their remaining out-of-pocket fees using the $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career). In addition, those who train full-time can also apply for the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance.
   3. Let me summarise. The type of courses that are being offered, micro-credentials, stackable, industry-driven and part-time, make them accessible to working adults. We also provide funding support for those aged 40 and above, 90% course fee subsidies and $4,000 SkillsFuture Credit (Mid-Career) top-up, as an intervention for the opportunity cost faced by working adults. If you're working to support your family and have liabilities, this means that you still have an opportunity to de-risk and pursue training and upskilling. Also, the relationships that our IHLs have with the industry mean that the qualifications or skills that you're getting will translate into employment opportunities.
   4. These efforts reflect how the IHLs are responding to needs and adapting their programmes to the market, being plugged into what is happening in the market in real time.

Going Further

8. Building on this progress, referencing my earlier comment on how far we've come over the last 60 years, building on the success of the past and understanding the trajectory of the future. Where should we go for the next decade of SkillsFuture? Ten years on, what should we have as our ambition in 2035? Well, may I provoke some ideas and challenge the IHLs to think about this and how they might go further in the next decade of SkillsFuture in three areas.

9. First, how can our IHLs better support our workforce to thrive in an increasingly AI-pervasive world?

1. Today, the IHLs collectively provide over 1,200 CET courses in AI-related skills, ranging from:
   1. Shorter SkillsFuture Series booster programmes,
   2. Full qualifications and micro-credentials, to
   3. SCTPs that we spoke about earlier.
2. Many are supporting companies to upskill their workforce in AI. For example, Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) worked with Amazon Web Services to launch a one-stop Generative AI Hub. Learners and enterprises can use the Hub to explore different GenAI models and proof-of-concepts from companies such as OCBC Bank and develop their capabilities in building GenAI applications.
3. This is important work, it has to continue. Similar to how our workforce has mastered the use of computers in the ICT age, we must now prepare them for an AI-pervasive world, focusing on real-world, industry-focused applications of AI.
4. Because AI is so rapidly evolving, CET must play a bigger role. You cannot expect our young learners, when they enter the workforce, to know everything that they will need for their lifetime for AI. You cannot learn everything under PET. This speed of change means that institutions must refresh AI training curriculum and materials at a faster pace.
5. The theme for today's event, FutureWork, is timely and apt and I hope it generates good ideas and discussions among thought leaders, on how individuals, industry and institutions can work together in AI adoption, AI upskilling and a response to the faster pace of change that AI will drive in the education landscape and in the economy.

10. Second, I'd like to suggest and challenge our IHLs to think about, how to continue keeping their CET programmes industry-relevant?

1. I think we have done tremendously well so far, but let's imagine what the next 10 years is going to be like, what is our response going to be? We anticipate frequent economic disruptions, so it is going to be important for our institutions to keep abreast of industry trends and emerging areas. Only then can the training programmes lead to good outcomes.
2. Partnerships with industry, whether through staff exchange or business consultancy projects, are critical and will continue to be critical in ensuring that our adult educators stay current in their knowledge and understanding.
3. Several IHLs have started working with companies on their problems to offer solutions, drawing from the IHLs' applied research niches, CET and workplace learning expertise and industry networks.
   1. For example, Republic Polytechnic (RP) has leveraged its distinctive strengths in supply chain management and logistics, and launched a "Ready-and-Go" series, offering a menu of training options and project-based training for companies.
   2. NUS has also partnered SBS Transit in their digital transformation efforts by providing specialised training courses to over 600 employees in Data Analytics, Data Visualisation and Robotics.
4. These collaborations are good, but the question is, in the next 10 years, what more can our IHLs do to distil industry insights from these projects and partnerships, and translate them effectively and systematically into new curriculum content for CET and PET.

11. Third, how might IHLs strengthen internal capabilities in the delivery of CET?

1. As the economy shifts and transforms, as our social expectations shift and transform, the expectation of what you experience as a learner and an educator will also change. Thus, our institutions and educational processes will have to think about what internal capabilities to develop over the next 10 years that they do not have today. Adaptive learning tools, supported by AI development, offers opportunities for mass customisation of learning for different groups of learners.
   1. With this potential, many institutions have come up with AI-enabled self-help, personalised learning tools for adult learners and to use that strength to deal with the varied needs across the landscape of learners.
2. How else can we enable our Adult Educators to use AI to teach and learn better?
   1. For example, in CET curriculum development and refresh, how do we use these tools to reduce time to market? Or for assessment and grading so more prompt feedback can be provided to adult learners, who need to know in real time whether what they are doing is effective for the challenges they are facing?
   2. Many of you have started workshops and conversations with your staff, for example, on how to integrate GenAI into curriculum development and facilitation.
   3. These Continuing Professional Development efforts focusing on new digital pedagogies and tools will become even more important.
   4. This is the intent of the Training and Adult Educator Professional Pathway (TAEPP) developed by the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) that was announced earlier this week.
   5. With technology and approaches to adult learning rapidly evolving, our Adult Educators must similarly upgrade their skills continually to ensure that they are up-to-date with industry developments and training methods.
3. As trailblazers in the CET space, I urge the IHLs to take the lead in strengthening CET capabilities – at the institutional, school and staff level. So, three provocations for consideration about how we can assume that AI will continue to change and disrupt over the next 10 years, and a need, then, to think about how we can improve or find innovative ways of developing industry collaborations. And what is it about capability development within our IHLs that will allow them to continue to play this leading role in our education to drive the necessary transformation as part of our SkillsFuture movement.

12. I thank the IHL senior management and team for the good work you have begun to strengthen and expanding our lifelong learning and CET provisions in Singapore and for Singaporeans.

1. I think you will be the first to say that this is a work in progress, Education must always be a work-in-progress.
2. We have a key important mission to upskill our workforce to help them thrive in an AI-pervasive world.
3. We need to continually innovate our CET programmes, aim for higher-quality, industry-relevant training and ensure that we have the capabilities to meet this ambition.
4. I would like to thank NUS for hosting the SkillsFuture Festival today and look forward to continuing all these conversations with you.

13. Thank you.