SkillsFuture

Ministry of Education (Singapore)

Ministry of Education (Singapore)

Singaporean ministry responsible for education

The Ministry of Education (MOE; Malay: Kementerian Pendidikan; Chinese: 教育部; Tamil: கல்வி அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies related to the education in Singapore.

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Ministry of Education headquarters at Buona Vista

Organisational structure

The ministry currently oversees 10 statutory boards which includes 5 polytechnics and 2 institutes: SkillsFuture Singapore, Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board, ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, Institute of Technical Education, Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic and Science Centre, Singapore.

In 2016, a new statutory board under the Ministry of Education (MOE), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), was formed to drive and coordinate the implementation of SkillsFuture. It took over some of the functions currently performed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and absorbed the Committee for Private Education (CPE).

Unions

Civil servants employed by the Ministry of Education are organised into several Unions, including the Singapore Teachers' Union, Singapore Chinese Teachers' Union, Singapore Malay Teachers' Union and Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union for Education Officers; and the Amalgamated Union of Public Employees for the non-Education Officers. All these unions are affiliates of the National Trades Union Congress.

Statutory boards

Impact

The Government of Singapore invests heavily in education to equip citizens with the necessary knowledge and skills to compete in the global marketplace.[2] Singapore currently spends around a fifth of its national budget on education.[3] To boost its economic standing, the Government of Singapore created a mandate that most Singaporeans learn English. It is the language of governance and administration in Singapore[4] and English is also the medium of instruction in most, if not all, schools in Singapore. As a result, the country rose from one of the most impoverished Asian countries to one with the strongest economies and highest standards of living.[5]

SkillsFuture

The SkillsFuture initiative was introduced in 2015 to support Singapore's next stage of economic advancement by providing lifelong learning and skills development opportunities for Singaporeans.[6] SkillsFuture aims at unlocking the full potential of all Singaporeans, regardless of background and industry.[7] The program contains several key initiatives, such as SkillsFuture Credit and SkillsFuture Earn and Learn. SkillsFuture caters to many stakeholders, with initiatives centred on students, adult learners, employers, and training providers.[7] In general, SkillsFuture involves a broad array of policy instruments targeting a wider range of beneficiaries over a longer-term horizon – schooling years, early career, mid-career or silver years – with a variety of resources available to help them attain mastery of skills.[8]

Every Singapore citizen from the age of 25 is given S$500 (approximately $370) by the Singapore government for the SkillsFuture Credit to invest in their personal learning.[9] This sum can be used for continuing education courses in local tertiary institutions, as well as short courses provided by MOOC providers such as Udemy, Coursera, and edX.

By the end of 2017, the SkillsFuture Credit has been utilised by over 285,000 Singaporeans.[10] There were more than 18,000 SkillsFuture credit-approved courses available at that time.[11] As of 2016, there were also a total of 40 Earn and Learn Programmes.[11]

SkillsFuture has established a multi-level training system with dozens of initiatives and programs targeting the different skill-training needs of different social groups, such as students and employees in different career stages. Moreover, SkillsFuture also invests in forms of industry collaboration to uplift the broad base of private companies, and strengthen collaboration between training institutions, unions, trade associations, and employers to develop the skills of the Singaporean workforce.[12] In terms of funding, according to the Singaporean government budget report, a provision of $220 million has been made for SSG in the fiscal year 2018 to implement plans, policies and strategies to support skills development programs under SkillsFuture.[13]

Ministers

With the expanding scope of education in Singapore and the implementation of SkillsFuture in 2016,[14] the Ministry was led by two ministers; Minister for Education (Schools), who oversees the pre-school, primary, secondary, and junior college education; and Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), who oversees the ITE, polytechnic, university and SkillsFuture education.[15] In 2018, the Ministry returned to being headed by one minister.[16]

The Ministry is headed by the Minister for Education, who is appointed as part of the Cabinet of Singapore. The incumbent minister is MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Chan Chun Sing from the People's Action Party.

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References

Citations

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    "MINISTRY OF EDUCATION" (PDF).
  2. [2]
    Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). UNESCO. 4: 16.
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    Mara, Wil (2016). Singapore. New York: Scholastic. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-531-23297-2.
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    "Speech by Ms Low Yen Ling Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Education at the Inspiring Teacher of English Awards Ceremony". Base. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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    Mara, Wil (2016). Singapore. New York: Scholastic. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-531-23297-2.
  6. [6]
    Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). UNESCO. 4: 50.
  7. [7]
    Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in Transformation: Promising Practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). Uil Publications Series on Lifelong Learning Policies and Strategies. 4: 17 – via UNESCO.
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    Woo, J. J. (15 August 2017). "Educating the developmental state: policy integration and mechanism redesign in Singapore's SkillsFuture scheme". Journal of Asian Public Policy. 11 (3): 267–284. doi:10.1080/17516234.2017.1368616. S2CID 158882980.
  9. [9]
    Seow, Joanna (19 May 2017). "The ST Guide To... Using your SkillsFuture Credit". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  10. [10]
    Seow, Joanna (1 February 2018). "285,000 Singaporeans have used SkillsFuture Credit, with more doing so in 2017". The Straits Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  11. [11]
    Yorozu, Rika (2017). "Lifelong Learning in transformation: Promising practices in Southeast Asia" (PDF). UNESCO. 4: 52.
  12. [12]
    "ANNEX A-2 SUMMARY OF SKILLSFUTURE INITIATIVES" (PDF). 22 June 2019.
  13. [13]
    "Head K: Ministry of Education – Budget 2019" (PDF). 22 June 2019.
  14. [14]
    Yong, Charissa (9 March 2015). "Singapore Budget 2015: SkillsFuture courses to include aerospace, IT, languages, culinary skills". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  15. [15]
    Jing Yng, Ng (29 September 2015). "2 ministers each in MOE, MTI needed due to bigger work scope". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  16. [16]
    Chia, Anthony (24 April 2018). "Changes to Cabinet and Other Appointments (Apr 2018)". Prime Minister's Office Singapore. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
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    "Ong Pang Boon". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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    "Statement from the Prime Minister's Office" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. 29 May 1981. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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    "Lim Kim San". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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    "Tony Tan Keng Yam". Singapore Infopedia. National Library Board. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
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    "Statement from the Prime Minister's Office" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. 29 May 1981. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  22. [22]
    "Statement from the Prime Minister's Office" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore: Prime Minister's Office. 31 December 1984. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  23. [23]
    Ong, Justin (28 September 2015). "Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces Singapore's new Cabinet". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  24. [24]
    Mahmud, Aqil Haziq (25 July 2020). "PM Lee announces new Cabinet; 6 office holders promoted, 3 retirements". CNA. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  25. [25]
    Yahya, Yasmine (24 April 2018). "Cabinet reshuffle: Chan Chun Sing to be sole MTI Minister; will gain economic experience". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 2 December 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2020.

Sources

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