WORK SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMME (Status report)

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WORK SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMME:

(Status report): 7.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Acting Minister for Manpower if he will (a) give a status report of the Work Skills Training Programme (WSTP) in terms of (i) the numbers and profiles of jobseekers who have attended the WSTP and (ii) its effectiveness in helping the job seekers change their mindsets, secure employment or pursue other gainful activities; (b) state whether the WSTP purpose of imparting the labour market knowledge and skills to the unemployed and employees of companies and organisations undergoing restructuring is still relevant; and (c) how many job seekers and employees have attended the WSTP in the last three months.

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Mr Hawazi Daipi (for the Acting Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, Sir, the Work Skills Training Programme (WSTP) was launched in December 2001 to equip Singaporeans with useful job skills that can help them plan their careers, search for jobs effectively and to be able to handle job losses or job changes. A total of 36,601 training places have been achieved under the WSTP for the past two years. Some 1,900 training places have been achieved from October to December 2003. Over 50% of the trainees have secondary and below educational qualifications. About 30% of them are 45 years old and above.

A survey conducted on trainees who attended the WSTP between the period of December 2002 to May 2003 shows that some 42% of professionals and executives found employment after the training, and some 47% of workers in general found employment after the training.

Training for job seekers will have to be customised to the needs of job seekers. For those job seekers who have been retrenched after many years in a certain job and feel that they are not equipped to seek re-employment, work skills such as job search skills and coping with change may help them get started in their job search and regain employment. Those job seekers who already have the necessary job search skills and have the right mindsets may find job related training more useful in helping them regain employment. In recognition of this, WDA has trained the job placement officers in the Distributed CareerLink Network (DCN) of job centres in client profiling and to offer training advice targeted at the needs of job seekers. In addition, the officers attending to the job seekers in the DCN are also trained to provide career coaching and impart to the job seekers work skills such as writing effective resume, interview skills, and understanding the realities of the labour market.

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Mdm Ho Geok Choo: Sir, will the Ministry consider reviewing the place-and-train programme again? Because feedback has it that the present place-and-train programme is actually not reaching out to a segment of the working population that needs more encouragement to change their attitude to acquire skills to enable them to be more employable.

Mr Hawazi Daipi: Sir, we will welcome ideas on how we can make it more effective. But based on the figures that we have and the number of people who have benefited from the training, we find that it is quite effective. But if we can have new ideas on how to reach out to those who really need assistance in coping with the changes so that they can be more employable and are better prepared to changes in the world of work, then we will review and see whether it is possible to implement them.