JOBLESS Singaporeans who qualify for a new government-sponsored training programme will no longer have to wait until they complete their course to receive a training allowance.

The payout of $4 for each training hour will be given sooner and in regular instalments, so that they can have some cash in their pockets while training.

This change, disclosed by officials at a question-and-answer session with 260 human resource practitioners and union representatives yesterday, follows several other refinements to the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur) since the scheme was introduced last month.

These include expanding funding from 150 to 800 courses, and accepting in-house training programmes for subsidy on a case-by-case basis.

Details of the latest change on the training allowance will be announced in a few weeks' time, said Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) deputy chief executive Goh Eng Ghee.

The issue was raised by participants during the 25-minute session at the Employment & Employability Institute (e2i) in Bukit Merah.

They were giving their feedback on the $600 million Spur scheme which pays part of workers' wages while they train, to minimise layoffs.

Most centred on details of the scheme, with many asking about the criteria for getting funding for courses, especially in-house programmes.

Others touched on issues like offering security officer courses in Chinese.

National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) assistant secretary-general Ong Ye Kung said that as security companies want officers who speak English, the right thing to do is to help Mandarin-speaking people improve their English.

Elaborating on the training allowance, WDA's Mr Goh told The Straits Times that the earlier decision to pay it at the end of a course had been to ensure that people completed their training.

But the payout period was now being tweaked to help cash-strapped trainees who may be on courses that last a month.

Such a person would get about $600 in allowance in all, or about $30 a day. So far, about 2,000 jobseekers at e2i have received the allowance, said the institute's incoming chief executive officer, Mr Ang Hin Kee.

But Ms Selvigeetha S.Venkatesan, 43, who is due to join a three-month health-care course next month, said an earlier payout would help pay for meals and bus fares.

'I've been without a job for one year plus, so I haven't been able to save much money. I have to pay the loan for my flat and the medical expenses of my mother,' said the former environment officer, who lives in a three-room flat in Bukit Merah with her 69-year-old mother.

As for the criteria for Spur funding of in-house courses, companies must prove they are responsible employers, on top of having a list of pre-approved courses, said NTUC industrial relations director Cham Hui Fong.

They need to adopt the tripartite guidelines on managing excess manpower, such as having alternative work arrangements and using retrenchment as a last resort, she added.

Rounding up the session, Mr Ong told the participants to brace themselves for retrenchment to accelerate as the economy contracts.

He also expressed disappointment that some companies had refused to work with NTUC's e2i, saying they were not unionised.

He added that e2i was committed to 'serve everyone, unionised or non-unionised'.