New training campuses will help workers compete in tougher global economy

SINGAPORE: The global job hunt is expected to intensify in the coming years as economies slowly emerge from the recession and Singapore's leaders said the country must ensure it remains competitive after the storm blows over.

To do this, more efforts are being put into skills upgrading, including two new Continuing Education and Training (CET) campuses.

There is never an end to learning. Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong himself took a learning journey at the Institute for Adult Learning. It is one of Singapore's 48 Continuing Education and Training campuses, better known as CETs.

Set up in December 2008, the Institute for Adult Learning is ramping up its CET offerings and expanding its services.

As for workers and employers, there are plans to give them greater access to such training facilities all under one roof.

Training centres will come together to support the two new national CET campuses, to be ready by 2013. They will be to working adults, what the polytechnics and universities are to the younger generation.

The campuses will be located at the Jurong Lake District in the west and Paya Lebar Central in the east - both slated to be major regional hubs. They are to serve as one-stop centres, integrating services like career consulting, training, workshops and recruitment facilities.

The campuses will also provide a platform for employment exchange. Employers can meet their manpower needs while workers seek out good job opportunities.

For CET providers, they can leverage on each other and link up with the wider network of providers around the island.

Each campus will be themed. For example, hospitality-related courses such as tourism, F&B and retail can be clustered within the same campus.

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: "That will create greater synergies, greater efficiency and more effectiveness in delivering the training programmes. But it doesn't mean that all the other CET centres will no longer have a role to play. They will continue to provide specific industry training programmes for the related industries."

NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say said: "By strengthening our CET infrastructure, we can on one hand work closely with all the economic agencies to ensure that Singapore is competitive - that we're cheaper, we're better, we're faster - to attract more investment to create more jobs."

At least two CET campuses - the Institute for Adult Learning and the labour movement's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) - have announced plans to relocate to the two national CET campuses. Both campuses are expected to provide 150,000 training places annually. - CNA/vm