Parliament: Fewer poly and ITE graduates in full-time permanent work
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Employment surveys have found that the proportion of polytechnic and ITE graduates in full-time permanent jobs fell between 2007 and 2016, said Dr Janil Puthucheary in Parliament on Feb 6, 2018.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
SINGAPORE - The proportion of polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduates in full-time permanent jobs fell from 77 per cent in 2007 to 58 per cent in 2016, said Senior Minister of State for Eduation Janil Puthucheary on Tuesday (Feb 6).
The figures are based on employment surveys conducted six months after the students finish their final examinations.
Dr Janil told Parliament that while fewer are taking up full-time permanent work, the numbers of graduates doing freelance, part-time and temporary work has gone up.
He was replying to Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera, who had asked about the percentage of polytechnic and ITE graduates securing full-time work within a year of graduation in the last 10 years.
There are two main reasons for the drop in full-time work, he said.
One is that students are taking up part-time work while they prepare for further studies, and others are choosing not to do full-time permanent work because of freelance or part-time stints, or other reasons.
A small number of students are in part-time work not out of choice or are still looking for employment, said Dr Janil.
He said the Ministry of Education will be conducting an in-depth study of the trends to understand how students make decisions for their careers and further studies.
He noted that more of them are choosing further studies instead of working, driven by the expansion of education pathways for students at polytechnics and universities.
Overall, he said the employment rate of polytechnic and ITE graduates has remained high over the past decade - about nine in 10 graduates found jobs each year.
