SkillsFuture is a national movement that provides opportunities for all Singaporeans to develop to their fullest potential at different stages of their lives. Regardless of your starting point, you can realise your goals and aspirations through a holistic system of education and training.
Whether you are a student, a working adult starting out in your career, a professional in your mid-career, or an experienced worker in your silver years – you can access a wealth of resources to help you attain skills mastery. Skills mastery is not about paper qualifications or traditional definitions of success. Instead, it is about continually striving towards excellence through knowledge, application, and experience.
Nurturing a culture of lifelong learning together with the skills, passion and contributions of every individual will drive Singapore’s next phase of development towards an advanced economy and inclusive society.
Click here to find out more about the Council for Skills, Innovation and Productivity (CSIP).
1. Help individuals to make well-informed choices in education, training and careers
With the development of a full system of guidance, everyone will be equipped to make better choices in their education, training, and career. It will start with educational counselling in schools and extend throughout an individual’s working life.
Through collaborations between the Government, industry, and institutions, individuals will have exposure to a wide range of occupations and industries from a young age. They will also have access to ongoing information about the changing needs of the labour market.
2. Develop an integrated, high-quality system of education and training that responds to constantly evolving industry needs
Education and training will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that a sound and broad-based education for the young is complemented with full menus of continual learning options – including opportunities to develop new specialisations.
3. Promote employer recognition and career development based on skills and mastery
Employers will be involved in designing and implementing a framework to enable employees to advance in their careers through skills ladders.
4. Foster a culture that supports and celebrates lifelong learning
This will involve a long-term effort to respect every job for its requisite skills, and value the achievements of individuals who attain mastery in their own fields. It will also promote the habit of learning throughout life – for work as well as for personal development and interest.
Trained ECG counsellors will introduce secondary school students to a wide range of education and career options, and guide them to make informed post-secondary education choices. This will continue throughout their schooling in ITE, polytechnics, junior colleges, and universities to help students make informed choices about their careers.
Available for selected polytechnic and ITE courses, Enhanced Internships will offer students meaningful work assignments and industry exposure, so they can deepen and apply both technical and soft skills. The real-world experience they gain from a workplace environment will help them make better career choices.
MySkillsFuture, formerly known as the Individual Learning Portfolio, is a one-stop education, training and career guidance online portal that enables Singaporeans of all ages to chart their own career and lifelong learning pathways throughout life.
SkillsFuture Advice for Individuals is an outreach effort to reach out to the wider community, to encourage Singaporeans to adopt SkillsFuture initiatives.
The SkillsFuture for Digital Workplace, formerly known as Future@Work, is a national initiative designed to equip Singaporeans with the mindset and skills to prepare for the future economy.
Students from local universities, polytechnics, and ITEs can embark on overseas internships to take on work and study programmes that will prepare them for international assignments in their future careers.
Early-career employees can benefit from a wide range of services at WSG’s network of career centres, including employability skills workshops and networking sessions.
This enhanced place-and-train programme aims to place professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Through P-Max, PMETs will be matched to suitable positions in SMEs, and they will also be able to acquire the skills to help them excel in an SME.
Singaporeans can take ownership of their skills development and lifelong learning through SkillsFuture Credit. From 2016, all Singaporeans aged 25 and above will receive an opening credit of S$500. This credit will not expire and the government will provide periodic top-ups, so individuals can accumulate their credit.
Designed for fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates, this work-learn programme places them with an employer so that they have opportunities to learn through structured on-the-job training and institution-based training. Those who successfully complete this programme will receive industry-recognised qualifications and a sign-on incentive.
SkillsFuture Engage is a pilot outreach initiative that complements existing advisory services and resources to help Singaporeans make well-informed decisions about their training and career choices.
This award recognises the efforts of Singapore Citizens who attain WSQ full qualifications, which will equip them with robust skills to perform their jobs competently, pursue career progression, and explore new job opportunities.
For those in their early and mid-career, this programme lets individuals develop and deepen their skills in future growth clusters. A monetary award of S$5000 will be given to Study Awards recipients.
Mid-career employees can benefit from a wide range of services at WSG’s network of career centres, including career coaching and employability skills workshops.
There is a wide range and scale of short, skills-focused, modular courses that will enable Singaporeans to have more opportunities to acquire skills relevant to industry needs.
Singaporeans can take ownership of their skills development and lifelong learning through SkillsFuture Credit. From 2016, all Singaporeans aged 25 and above will receive an opening credit of S$500. This credit will not expire and the government will provide periodic top-ups so individuals can accumulate their credit.
This award recognises inspirational individuals who demonstrate skills mastery, are advocates of lifelong learning, and devoted to mentoring and developing others. Recipients receive S$10,000 cash each to support their journey towards skills mastery in their respective fields.
This initiative will promote collaborations with companies to design and enhance developmental opportunities for high-potential talents.
All Singaporeans aged 40 years and above will receive up to 90 per cent course fee subsidy for SSG-funded courses, including modular courses in publicly funded post-secondary education institutions, and additional reductions in MOE-funded diploma and degree courses. This is an additional 20 to 40 per cent increase in subsidy for SSG-funded courses at the PME level and a 6 to 20 per cent increase for diploma and degree courses subsidised by MOE.
iNnovative Learning 2020 or iN.LEARN 2020 is a learning innovation initiative, which will drive the use of blended learning in Continuing Education and Training (CET) to meet the dynamic learning needs of business enterprises and individuals. iN.LEARN 2020 aims to foster closer collaboration among CET partners and practitioners to enhance the quality, accessibility, and effectiveness of learning.
Under this programme, fresh ITE and polytechnic graduates will get placed with employers and learn through structured on-the-job training and institution based training. Employers can receive up to S$15,000 to offset the cost of developing and providing the structured training.
The SkillsFuture Employer Awards recognises exemplary and progressive employers that champion skills development. They grow their talent pool and bring the best in their employees, offering learning opportunities and structured skills-based career pathways.