17th December 2022

More Singaporeans are signing up for short online courses that are relevant to their careers. Courses that are popular with Singapore learners include those leading to certificates in data analytics and project management from tech giants such as Google and IBM.

These programmes are known as micro-credentials because they are of shorter duration. They take only three to 12 months to complete and are recognised by industries.

Micro-credentials are becoming more popular as working adults see the value of shorter and more flexible online programmes that are more job-focused.

Under SkillsFuture, every Singaporean aged 25 and above was given an initial $500 in credits in 2015. These can be used to acquire new skills or improve existing ones. Since 2021, more than 1,300 Singaporeans have used their SkillsFuture credits for subscriptions for bite-size micro-learning courses

17th December 2022

SkillsFuture Singapore released a report, The Skills Demand For The Future Economy report, which stated that mid-career workers in Singapore mostly hold the five kinds of jobs that are experiencing disruption, namely, operations and administration, sales, marketing and customer service, human resource, finance and accounting, and engineering and technology.

It is important for workers to think about upskilling or reskilling to stay versatile or take on new opportunities. Upskilling refers to learning additional skills to move into other roles within the same family of jobs, while reskilling is learning new skills to move into a role in a different job family.

The report also details several ways for mid-career workers to upgrade their skills to move into roles that are becoming more popular. For example, mid-career workers in sales, marketing and customer service already have skills that can be applied in similar but more popular roles.

Fresh graduates are more open or exposed to technological developments, including video-conferencing apps such as Zoom, to manage hybrid or flexible work, so this can also give them an advantage in the workplace.

3rd December 2022

Two specialised schools, Crest and Spectra Secondary, will continue to offer the Normal (Technical) course after other secondary schools do away with it in 2024. By 2024, most secondary schools will offer full subject-based banding, which groups students according to their strengths in different subjects. This will replace the Normal and Express streams.

Crest and Spectra Secondary are schools that cater to students who thrive on hands-on learning. They both run programmes that covers academic and vocational subjects. The schools prepare their students for progression to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), as they graduate with both the ITE Skills Subject Certificate and the GCE N(T)-level certificate.

Lower-secondary students get to take taster modules from vocational disciplines, such as mobile Web applications, mechanical design and automation, and Internet of Things applications. Both schools also offer an industry experiential programme to their Secondary 3 cohort, which starts with students applying for internships, attending interviews and then reporting for work at various companies during the school holidays.

3rd December 2022

A total of 218 Nanyang Technological University students, who mostly study psychology, have had to retake a test after the paper was accidentally released online earlier.

The school found out that the test paper had been put up online on the student learning platform prior to the test.

Associate Professor Chia Wai Mun from NTU’s School of Social Sciences said that the school will conduct a thorough review of its exam procedures and take the necessary measures to avoid similar incidents in future.

14th November 2022

In the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) ranking of Asia’s universities, the National University of Singapore came in second.

Nanyang Technological University was awarded the fifth spot in the list. NTU also was placed ninth regionally for academic reputation.

This year’s QS Asia Rankings are the include 760 universities, evaluated based on several factors, including academic and employer recognition, research, resources and the proportion of international faculty and students.

QS senior vice-president Ben Sowter said: “Singaporean higher education has much to be proud of. For nearly a decade, it dominated the top tier of QS’ Asia University Rankings, holding two of the top three spots and retaining the No. 1 position – occupied by NUS or NTU. Despite this year’s slight decline, both its leading institutions are among Asia’s top five.”