New work-study courses to be launched in 2023 for poly and ITE grads

With a 3.81 grade point average in her final year at Temasek Polytechnic, Ms Ang Jing Xuan could have gone on to university but she chose instead to sign up for the Work-Study Programme offered by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to gain work experience.

After four years at regional data analytics company Azendian Solutions, the freelance data consultant, 25, is pursuing a part-time degree in business analytics at the National University of Singapore.

Said Ms Ang: "The programme provides a hands-on approach and makes the learning curve between studying and working less steep."

Four new courses will be added to the SkillsFuture Work-Study initiative next year. Customer experience management, agriculture and aquaculture technology, and facilities management will be offered by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), and aerospace engineering by Singapore Polytechnic.

Speaking at the launch of the Work-Study Fair 2022 at Temasek Polytechnic yesterday, Mr Foo Piao Zhou, group director of training partners group at SSG, said the initiative gives graduates opportunities to learn industry-relevant skills and constantly reinvent themselves.

Over 9,000 individuals are either undertaking or have graduated from the SkillsFuture Work-Study Programme, which features more than 190 courses by the polytechnics and ITE.

In his speech at the launch of the fair, Second Minister for Education Maliki Osman highlighted the importance of upskilling.

"Given the uncertain business outlook, employers were cautious in hiring fresh graduates during the pandemic," he said.

"(But) with the post-Covid-19 recovery under way, and as institutes of higher learning pressed on with efforts to grow work-study opportunities, we have seen a dramatic increase in take-up and placement rates."

About 1,200 students have been offered work-study placements with companies in the first half of this year, compared with 1,400 students in the whole of last year.

The one-day fair returned this year as a hybrid event after two years of virtual interactions. Over 2,000 students took part in 18 webinars, learning about work-study and career opportunities from firms in sectors such as healthcare and manufacturing.