Polytechnic, ITE students to get help starting careers in tech

Students and graduates from Singapore's polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will be getting more help in kick-starting their careers in the tech sector.

This will be a new initiative by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) aimed at providing these students and graduates with end-to-end support, said Minister of State for Communications and Information Tan Kiat How during the debate on his ministry's budget in Parliament yesterday.

Called TechSkills Accelerator for ITE and Polytechnics (TIP) Alliance, the initiative will include private sector internships to allow students to acquire in-demand skills such as those of data engineers.

"After graduation, they will be able to take up apprenticeships at participating companies under place and train programmes, to learn the ropes for information and communications technology (ICT) job roles," said Mr Tan. "Participating companies will also establish skills-oriented training plans and pathways for tech roles for these graduates, including certifications and specialist training."

Graduates can continue to take up further ICT qualifications while working, through the SkillsFuture Work-Study programmes. Mr Tan said the initiative will start with 1,000 students over the next three years. The announcement comes amid a shortage of tech talent here.

There are about 216,000 ICT professionals here, with half in the ICT sector and others supporting digital transformation in other sectors such as finance. Around 10,000 more professionals have been added to the workforce annually in recent years.

But 19,000 roles remain unfilled today, particularly in roles such as software engineering and development, Mr Tan said. He noted that some polytechnic and ITE graduates of information and digital technologies courses have encountered challenges in finding suitable entry-level roles in their areas of study. For instance, some potential employers still prefer to hire university graduates. Mr Tan also said the Government will establish new programmes and specialisations in universities to support emerging tech needs in different sectors, among other things.

Yesterday, he said IMDA will be increasing efforts to support small and medium-sized enterprises here with digitalisation. It will also launch a new industry digital plan for the legal sector and refresh existing digitalisation road maps for other sectors such as retail.