The Committee on the Future Economy says modular courses provide more flexibility for employees
The Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) has recommended the introduction of modular courses in its long-awaited report on Singapore’s “next stage of growth”.
The report claims that modular skills programmes would allow workers to take courses in segments and online, thus allowing them the flexibility to continue working while learning.
In the report, CFE said that as jobs change, workers will need to commit to a future that requires lifelong learning as the need to develop new skills becomes greater.
“We must go beyond the pursuit of the highest possible academic qualifications early in life, to seek knowledge, experience and skills throughout life,” a spokesperson for CFE said to The Straits Times.
They acknowledged that a key challenge workers face is how to balance their personal development with their career and family life, thus suggesting the introduction of modular courses. These programmes should be approved by the Education Minister, they said, adding that the government should work closely with training providers and higher institutes of learning to roll out these courses.
The committee also recommended that employers encourage their staff to develop their skills, highlighting the SkillsFuture TechSkills Accelerator which allows workers from other industries to pick up digital skills. They added that employers involved in the programme offer on-the-job training and secondments and ensure that the skills they learn are relevant to their work.
The committee recommended that this model be applied in other industries such as law, engineering, and finance while suggesting that more has to be done to encourage leadership development in Singaporean companies and with firms’ human resource management capabilities.
“The government could even give companies preferential treatment for some schemes if they use skills- and competency-based HR systems to hire and promote staff,” they said.
