More university places for working adults can help fill future economy jobs: Experts
SINGAPORE – Increasing places for adult learners would help shift mindsets about education and create a pathway for Singaporeans to upgrade their skills for new jobs and fill existing roles, experts said.
Take, for instance, Ms Nadia Daeng, 39.
After 18 years in the workforce, she is looking to go back to school to get a degree.
She graduated from Ngee Ann Polytechnic with a Diploma in Mass Communications in 2004 and has been working in communications and advocacy for caregivers since then.
She told The Straits Times: “A university degree was on my list of things to do when I was growing up.
“Now I’m interested in psychology-related degree courses to help me understand my strengths better and identify personality traits in others so I’ll know how to contribute to a more productive and healthy work environment for future jobs in the next stage of my career.”
Opportunities for more working adults like her to get subsidised places at universities here are now on the cards.
On March 7, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing announced that the Ministry of Education (MOE) would study the possibility of a higher lifetime cohort participation rate in education.
This means MOE is considering allowing more working adults to get places in government-funded degree programmes, Mr Chan said while presenting his ministry’s budget in Parliament.
Singapore Human Resources Institute president Low Peck Kem told ST that MOE’s shift to a lifetime cohort participation rate is a step in the right direction to encouraging lifelong learning.
To read more : The Straits Times
