Mr Sinnakaruppan, Chairman of the Advisory Council on

Continuing Education and Training

Mr Lee Keh Sai, Dy Chairman, ITE Board

Dr Law Song Seng, Director and CEO, ITE

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

I am pleased to join you this afternoon for the Year 2000 Graduation and Award Presentation Ceremony for the Basic Education for Skills Training (BEST) & Worker Improvement through Secondary Education (WISE) Programmes.

The BEST Programme was launched in 1982 to meet the basic literacy and numeracy needs of workers who did not complete their primary education. Since then 240,000 workers have signed up for classes and 65,000 or 27% of them went on to obtain their BEST Module 4 certificate. Twenty eight thousand of these graduates have continued to upgrade themselves through further education and training courses.

The WISE Programme was launched in 1987 to meet the demands of workers with less than secondary education. The Programme enabled them to obtain the GCE ‘N’ level qualification in English Language and Mathematics. Since the launch, some 92,000 workers have joined WISE classes and 26,000 of them have attended WISE Module 4.

The economy has turned around since the economic downturn in 1998. It is expected to achieve a GDP growth of 5.5 to 7.5% this year. However, while we can celebrate the economic recovery we have to be also alert to the fact that the world economy is becoming more competitive.

One of the challenges of the New Economy is the constant need to keep up with the rapid changes in skills needs. There are two major forces that drive these changes: Globalisation and rapid Technological Advancement particularly the Information Technology revolution. Globalisation is not only about competition among countries or the movement of investment or the flow of trade across borders; it also encompasses the movement of ideas and knowledge. Information Technology, especially the Internet, has made it easier for the cross fertilisation of ideas and the creation of new knowledge. This exchange and creation of knowledge has spawned a host of new industries which demand new skills.

With these rapid changes, the shelf life of our knowledge and skills will shorten. Workers will therefore have to undertake more continual learning and upgrading in order to remain employable. Economies whose people are eager to learn and relearn skills will have the competitive edge in the New Economy.

Our workforce development programmes need to adapt to the New Economy to ensure that Singapore remains competitive. I am thus glad to note that work is being undertaken to review the BEST and WISE programmes. ITE has initiated a review study to determine how these programmes can be enhanced to reflect the knowledge and skills needed for the New Economy. This includes IT literacy in addition to English literacy and numeracy. Additionally it will include studies on how to make BEST and WISE more responsive to the needs of workers and employers.

The review of BEST and WISE is important because these are programmes that are critical in uplifting the educational and skills profile of our workforce. Currently, only about one-third of our workers are skilled. The remaining two-thirds are either with secondary education or below. This profile will not be able to meet the demands of the New Economy. The Economic Development Board has estimated that for the jobs created in knowledge-driven industries, 2 out of 3 in manufacturing and 3 out of 4 in services will be for skilled workers.

School of Lifelong Learning

Besides the review of the BEST and WISE programmes, we have also embarked on other initiatives to enhance the skills profile of our workforce.

In Aug 1999, the Manpower 21 (M21) Plan was launched to chart a clear plan for Singapore’s manpower development in the 21^st century. One of the key strategies of Manpower 21 is "Lifelong Learning for Lifelong Employability." Under this strategy, a comprehensive framework for in-employment education and training which we call the School of Lifelong Learning would be set up to enable all levels of the workforce to learn and re-learn throughout their lives.

The School of Lifelong Learning aims to make Singaporeans ready for the New Economy. The Ministry of Manpower is working with employers, unions, community groups and educational institutions to establish this holistic framework, which will include, amongst others, the setting up of the National Skills Recognition System and Learning Infrastructure to facilitate workforce development.

The School of Lifelong Learning will offer many opportunities for our workers, if they are prepared to learn and upgrade continually. This may appear difficult, especially to our older workers with less than secondary education but as long as they adopt a positive learning attitude, they can learn and benefit from retraining. Let me stress that while we can provide new facilities and more opportunities for our workforce to train and learn on a continual basis, the key challenge is to get them to develop a mindset of life long learning. We recognise that older workers, and those who left school early without secondary education will find the going tough and stressful. We need to find ways to develop their interest and confidence in learning. Together with our partners in the private and people sectors we must continue to find new and creative ways to make learning enjoyable.

Singapore Learning Initiative

To inculcate learning as a way of life, the Ministry of Manpower, in partnership with the private and people sectors, has launched the Singapore Learning Initiative. The objective of this initiative is to promote greater recognition and awareness of the need for continual learning and to motivate the workforce to urgently embrace lifelong learning. To anchor the movement, there will be a two-week long Singapore Learning Festival to be held between August and September this year.

As you can see, partnership is a key element in the School of Lifelong Learning. ITE is one of the key partners in this initiative.

I am pleased to note that in its recently launched ITE Breakthrough Plan, which is a blueprint to guide ITE for the next 5 years, Continuing Education and Training (CET) will receive even greater priority. One of the 4 goals of this Plan is to build a "Continuing Education Pillar to Support National Efforts in Lifelong Learning". Under this goal, ITE will re-focus its CET system to facilitate Lifelong Learning through IT-based learning for CET students, restructure courses into smaller units to provide greater learning flexibility for adult learners and establish a system to recognise prior learning.

Employers and unions are also key partners in the School of Lifelong Learning. Without the support of these partners, we would not have been able to reach out to so many workers for the BEST and WISE programmes. I am glad to note that, seven companies will receive the Special Company Awards this year in recognition of their valuable contributions to these programmes. In addition, Special Awards will also be given to four PAP Community Foundation Education centres which have provided support to the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in conducting these programmes.

Award Winners

This afternoon, we will also recognise outstanding BEST and WISE participants who have done well in their examinations. This year, there are 186 award winners. Another 8 adults will receive awards for their excellent performance in the 1999 GCE ‘N’ level examination.

We will also present 204 Incentive Study Awards donated by the Singapore Labour Foundation. The recipients are BEST Module 4 graduates who have further upgraded themselves further through the WISE and MOST programmes.

My congratulations to all award winners. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend all organisations, teaching personnel and students who have contributed to the success of the BEST and WISE Programmes over the years.

Thank you.