Learning to be able to keep learning

At the Straits Times Education Forum 2022 on the evolving role of universities, held in partnership with Singapore Management University last week, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing threw up a challenge to Singapore's institutions of higher learning. To keep up with the times, they must do more than produce fresh school-leavers for the job market. The education system must pay attention to those who have already graduated and retrain about half a million adult learners each year. This is clearly not a small challenge in a small nation. However, it is a necessary call to institutions of higher learning to revisit their purpose in keeping with Singapore's evolving economic circumstances, and so that those who are in, or entering, the workforce can also adapt effectively to the demands of an ever-changing global economy and marketplace.

While a traditional university education prepares young people intellectually and academically for the demands of the job market, that market is never static. Hence, a proper university education must be complemented by the kind of continuing learning that enables graduates to keep their skills current and stay economically relevant. As the scope and nature of jobs evolve, about 20 per cent to 25 per cent of Singapore's local workforce of about three million may need to upskill yearly - that is, about half a million adult workers every year, by Mr Chan's reckoning. Universities have earned good reputations as centres of academic excellence but must continually adapt and transform.