Debated in Parliament on 25 Feb 2021.
Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the number of Polytechnic graduates who dropped out from the SGUnited Traineeships Programme; and (b) what are the reasons for the drop-outs.
Mr Speaker, the SGUnited Traineeships Programme was launched in June 2020 to provide recent graduates with traineeship opportunities across various sectors.
As of end-December 2020, about 720 Polytechnic graduates had been placed into SGUnited Traineeships. Of these, 23, or about 3%, did not complete the programme. The Singapore Business Federation (SBF), our programme partner managing the SGUnited Traineeships Programme, surveys host organisations and trainees who have completed the programme, or left halfway. For those who did not complete the programme, the reasons were mainly because they had found full-time employment, or had undisclosed personal or medical reasons.
The SGUnited Traineeships Programme provides meaningful opportunities to graduates to pick up skills in preparation for full-time jobs. I am encouraged to see that the majority of trainees continue to go through with their traineeships. For participants who need career assistance, they can approach Workforce Singapore (WSG) or NTUC’s e2i through physical touchpoints such as the SGUnited Jobs and Skills Centres, WSG’s Careers Connect and its mobile extension, Careers Connect On-the-Go, as well as NTUC-e2i’s career centres. They may also visit the MyCareersFuture portal to search for job opportunities that suit their skills and competencies.
Mr Speaker, my question is, with regard to these 700-over students from the polytechnics and those who dropped out because of these issues, but those who remain, are they in the same field that they actually studied in? Is that the reason why most of them got jobs or stayed on in the programme? That would be my question, Sir.
I thank hon Member Dr Wan Rizal for the supplementary question. Offhand, I do not have the information on whether the polytechnic graduates who opted for the traineeships are actually in sectors that are relevant to what they studied. But we do know that the Polytechnic graduates have a wide range of choices of traineeships. We do encourage them to take on traineeships in sectors that are relevant to them, but we also encourage them to keep their options open and be ready to consider other choices as well.
Order. End of Question Time. The Clerk will now proceed to read the order of the day.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), Written Answers to Question Nos 7-8, 11-12 and 14 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix. Question Nos 9-10 and 13 have been postponed to the sitting of Parliament on 26 February 2021.]
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