Greater support to grow, equip Singapore’s social service workforce to meet more complex needs

SINGAPORE – New measures to bolster the social service workforce were announced on Dec 9 to meet the needs of an ageing population and families with more complex challenges.

Among the initiatives is a study award to encourage more people to join the social service sector to support full-fledged professionals such as social workers.

The Social Service Tribe Study Award will be expanded from April 2026 to support those pursuing associate-level qualifications at polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education, such as a diploma in social work.

Currently, the study award supports only those who attain full professional qualifications, such as a degree in social work or physiotherapy.

From April 2026, the Professional Development Sponsorship will also be fully funded, up from covering 75 per cent of tuition fees. The scheme helps recipients obtain their first professional qualification, such as a graduate diploma in social work or a master’s degree in psychology.

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said these initiatives are meant to widen the pipeline of sector professionals and equip those in the field to meet changing needs.

To recognise the contributions of over 20,000 professionals in the social service sector, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) designated 2025 as the Year of Celebrating Social Service Professionals. They include social workers, psychologists and counsellors.

At the closing event for the Year of Celebrating Social Service Professionals held at Gardens by the Bay, Mr Masagos noted that Singapore’s population is rapidly ageing while families are becoming smaller.

“Families’ needs are evolving with new challenges such as mental health issues, digital inclusion and social isolation. We are also seeing more families with complex needs,” he said. “These shifts will likely result in increasingly complex demands placed on the limited manpower in our sector.”

Hence, there is a need to boost the manpower pipeline and capabilities in the sector, he said, and tap technology to deliver better services more efficiently.

The MSF plans to better support the development of leaders in the sector, he added, such as expanding the funding support for the Foundational Leadership Grants beyond middle managers to include first-time leaders and senior leaders working in social service agencies (SSAs).

This will take effect from April 2026 and the grants will provide support for fees to attend courses to build leadership competencies.

From March 2026, the MSF’s Professional Services Group will work with the sector to set up a dedicated professional network, called the Supervision Nexus, to support and improve supervision standards and practices. 

In his speech, Mr Masagos also spoke about how the social service sector is using artificial intelligence, for example, to help workers spend less time on administrative tasks such as taking notes so they can focus more on engaging the people they work with.

He cited Mr Ashokkumar Ramachandran, therapy head at Awwa, who uses an AI-driven platform called Efficiency AI to conduct behavioural assessment of children with conditions such as autism and cerebral palsy at its Early Intervention Centre.

It used to take the staff hours to do such an assessment, and the time saved by using Efficiency AI can be better used to plan the intervention or programmes for the child, Mr Ramachandran said.

AWWA is an SSA that runs multiple services, such as a school for children with disabilities and an active ageing centre for seniors.

Mr Jason Lee, chief executive of Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, said the expansion of the Social Service Tribe Study Award to include those pursuing associate-level qualifications would help in the recruitment of staff in supporting roles, such as therapy assistants and social work associates.

Ms Charlene Heng, deputy director of Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), said that staff with associate-level qualifications do preliminary risk assessments, refer cases to the appropriate channels of help and run various programmes at the SOS.

They support the work done by social workers and psychologists, for example, and this allows the social workers and psychologists to do deeper intervention for those in crisis, among other things, Ms Heng said.

She said of the expansion of the Study Award: “This recognises the work of support staff, who are usually the first point of contact with the person in crisis. And it recognises that the work they do is needed and important.”