SOCIAL WORKERS IN GOVERNMENT'S EMPLOYMENT

SOCIAL WORKERS IN GOVERNMENT'S EMPLOYMENT

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(Salary and accreditation scheme): **

33.

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) what is the current pay of social workers under the Government's employment and whether this is competitive with the private sector; and (b) whether there is an accreditation scheme for social workers.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: Social workers who join the Civil Service are employed under the Management Executive Scheme. The current starting pay of a social worker under this scheme is about $2,350 per month. The government reviews the scheme regularly to ensure that remuneration remains competitive with the private sector. In fact, the Public Service Division is currently undertaking such a review, and should be finalising it soon.

As announced earlier this year, MCYS plans to put in place a social worker accreditation scheme. We are currently developing the accreditation framework and implementation plan with employers, practitioners, academia and Singapore Association of Social Workers. This accreditation framework will take into account social workers' experience in the sector, the hours of training received and the hours of supervised practice they have undergone. We expect to roll it out by the first quarter of 2008.

Besides accreditation, we are also putting in place various initiatives to enhance the professionalism of social workers. Two such initiatives are the Sabbatical Leave Scheme and the Leadership and Professional Development Scheme. We are working closely with the National Council of Social Service to finalise the implementation details of both schemes, which are expected to roll out by the end of 2007.

With these schemes in place, I am confident that we will help to further advance the social work profession and elevate the level of professionalism among social workers.