Study awards, fellowships to develop specialist skills
About 2,000 study awards and 100 fellowships will be given out each year under the SkillsFuture initiative to support Singaporeans in developing specialist skills in their fields, said Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday.
The study awards, which will be introduced in phases from this year, are aimed at those who want to develop specialist skills that are required by Singapore’s future growth clusters, such as those of software developers, satellite engineers or master craftsmen.
Those who already have deep specialist skills but wish to develop other competencies, such as business and cross-cultural skills, are also eligible, said Mr Tharman.
SkillsFuture Fellowships will be introduced next year to help Singaporeans become masters in their fields. They will be funded by voluntary contributions from the public, employers, unions and the Government, and recipients can use the monies for craft- and knowledge-based training.
While the focus of these two schemes will be on future growth clusters, the Government is also open to supporting individuals who are “really passionate” about other fields, said the minister.
At the same time, the Government is working with companies to groom corporate leaders, while sector manpower plans and building a pool of industry mentors are in the pipeline for smaller firms to benefit from the skills development process, he added. NG JING YNG
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