Thursday, March 10, 2011

Budget 2011: S$150m training programme targeted at PMETs

SINGAPORE : The Singapore government is investing S$150 million over three years to enhance the capabilities of professionals, managers, executives and technicians (PMETs).

The programme called the Skills Training for Excellence Programme (STEP) comes with four key objectives.

Giving details in Parliament during the Manpower Ministry's (MOM) debate on Wednesday, Minister Gan Kim Yong said STEP will allow the nearly 60,000 PMETs here to deepen their industry and occupational specific skills so they can be more proficient in their jobs.

Next, it will allow PMETs to broaden their skills through developing relevant horizontal skill sets such as management and human resource.

There will also be courses for PMETs to refresh their skills and update their knowledge to stay abreast with new trends and developments in their sectors.

And lastly, STEP will develop a talent and leadership core for key industries through scholarships and customised training roadmaps for PMETs in various sectors.

Mr Gan explained that many of the training programmes are delivered through small bite-sized modules to meet the needs of working PMETs.

Nevertheless, attaining a full qualification, through completion of a requisite set of modules, gives trainees a more comprehensive repertoire of skills.

Therefore, the MOM will introduce a CET Qualification Award (CQA) to encourage workers to complete a full qualification. This will help finance the cost of training for the PMETs.

Finally, from April 1, the MOM will also introduce mandatory qualification requirements for trainers, assessors and curriculum developers engaged by the Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) training providers.

Mr Gan believes this will improve the quality and outcomes of the CET programmes and benefit both employers and workers.

- CNA /ls

No comments: