Sufficiency of Places in Social Work Undergraduate Degree and Continuing Education and Training Programmes

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry is considering increasing the number of places for full-time undergraduate degrees and Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes (such as part-time undergraduate degrees, graduate diplomas and master’s by coursework programmes) in social work so as to increase the supply of social workers; (b) if so, when will the increase likely take place and by how many places; and (c) if not, why not.

Mr Chan Chun Sing: MOE and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) work closely with economic and sector agencies to distribute the supply of Pre-Employment Training (PET) full-time undergraduate degrees across disciplines. This takes into account industry demand, employment outcomes, as well as student interest. For Continuing Education and Training (CET) programmes (such as part-time undergraduate degrees, graduate diplomas and Master's by course work programmes), institutions also take into consideration industry demand for the CET programmes, when they plan for capacity.

Over the past five years, the number of graduates in social work from PET and CET programmes has increased by about 50%. MSF's assessment is that the supply of social workers is expected to be sufficient to meet the increase in demand in the coming years. There are currently no plans to further increase the number of degree and training places in social work and we will continue to monitor the situation. We will continue to work with MSF to monitor and review the number of degree and training places in social work in order to sustain workforce needs.