The Government's push to promote lifelong learning and ensure workforce sustainability is laudable.

Since the $500 SkillsFuture credit was announced in 2015, the Government has been reinforcing the need for citizens to upgrade their skills, adopt new knowledge to keep up with technology and increase their productivity (Employers, unions laud bigger help for training; Feb 24, 2015).

The wide range of courses available in the SkillsFuture directory is commendable and encourages citizens to upskill.

However, there are also serious limitations against this.

Many course providers charge exorbitant administrative and registration fees, which, in some cases, comprise up to 20 per cent of the total course fee.

The $500 credit is not a small sum.

However, it usually is enough for only a basic level course, and there is little motivation left for people to pursue further training afterwards.

Perhaps, unemployed citizens or retirees can be granted exceptions for more credit top-ups based on their training and development path.

This will increase the effectiveness of the policy and benefit those in need of the funding.

Loh Wengmun