Mr Eric Liu started his career as a production technician, but soon found his work too routine and began thinking about upgrading his skills.
He decided to enrol in a part-time diploma programme in electronic engineering at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, and later a part-time degree programme at the National University of Singapore.
Mr Liu, who is in his late 30s, graduated from NUS last year with highest honours and a degree in electronic engineering.
He was cited by Education Minister Lawrence Wong in his speech yesterday. Describing Mr Liu as an inspiration to all Singaporeans, Mr Wong said: "With his new skills, he continued to progress in his career, and he started a new job last week as a digital hardware engineer in ST Engineering,"
Graduates from institutes of higher learning (IHLs) will have to embrace workplace learning, the minister said. Individuals can attend training by their companies or programmes offered by third parties and IHLs, leading to qualifications such as a specialist diploma.
Mr Wong said the IHLs must support individuals' pursuit of active learning throughout their careers, and also build relationships with their graduates.
"It is not just about getting them to donate as alumni, but it is about supporting your students after they enter the workforce - continuously engaging your alumni to update themselves on latest trends in industry, to help them grow their professional networks, and encouraging them to proactively upskill and reskill."
He noted that the universities have been focusing on building up their continuing education and training (CET) departments and offering more modules. "This is truly a growth area because we have to build this up."
The Government has found that no country has a good model for adult education and training in place today, and Singapore will have to come up with a model of its own, Mr Wong added.
This will be a whole-of-government effort. For one thing, the country will be investing more in SkillsFuture and lifelong learning.
"But we will have to think through how the funds are allocated, on the supply and demand sides, and how we shape individual and firm-level incentives to achieve the best outcomes," he said.
"In many ways, we are already at the forefront of policy thinking in this area, and we will have to continue to innovate and experiment with new programmes and ideas."
Jolene Ang
