JOINT INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHEMES (Particulars)

Mr J. F. Conceicao asked the Minister for Finance what sort of joint training schemes were conducted through joint industrial training centres in 1973; what further activities are being planned; how responsibility for those schemes is distributed between the Government and the private sector; if there is any intention to modify the basis of co-operation; and in what ways his Ministry supports other forms of industrial training.

Mr Hon Sui Sen: Mr Speaker, Sir, in 1973, two Government-industry joint industrial training centres were in operation, one in co-operation with the Rollei Company of Germany and the other with Tata Industries of India. The two training centres have a capacity for training 200 skilled workers each year in the following key skills required in manufacturing:

(a) Precision machining

(b) Tool and die making

(c) Precision mechanics

(d) Precision optics.

After two years of intensive full-time training at the centres, workers are required to undergo an additional two years of approved in-plant training in industrial establishments selected by the Government.

The two joint training schemes have proved to be effective. The Government is now exploring the possibility of establishing similar joint training centres with other industrial companies including those in the shipbuilding and repair industries and the machine tool and machinery industries to meet the expected growth of demand for highly skilled workers by companies in these industries.

The Joint Industrial Training Centres established so far are being administered by the Economic Development Board acting as the Government's agency to supervise and direct their training programmes. Day-to-day operations of these centres are delegated to a management committee comprising three members from Government and two members from the participating private sector company. Government's responsibility is in providing the capital for the establishment of these centres, supply of local instructors and selection of trainees, in addition to its participation in the management committees to assist in the running of the centres. The private companies contribute the industrial training know-how and the supply of foreign instructors from industries and top technical schools abroad. They also provide in-plant training in their operations in Singapore after in-centre training has been completed.

There is no immediate necessity to modify the concept of the joint Government-industry training schemes although the basis of co-operation in each scheme may be varied from time to time on a case-by-case basis.

The Government also supports the following industrial training schemes:

(a) The Overseas Training Scheme under which selected Singaporeans are sent abroad to train in the industrial training facilities of established companies in Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan.

(b) The Industrial Training Subsidy Scheme under which companies with demonstrated capability to undertake in-plant training may be assisted with grants ranging from $3,000 to $9,000 per trainee for a wide range of modern industrial skills. The value of the grant to be given is determined by the type and period of training.

(c) Industrial Development Scholarship Scheme under which skilled workers may be given scholarships for training locally or abroad to become foremen and supervisors.