Debated in Parliament on 3 Mar 2023.
Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Education (a) what surveys or research are currently undertaken to assess the job impact of training courses that are supported by Government funds; (b) whether the Government will publish the findings of such studies; and (c) whether the Government will consider extending funding support to trainers based on the outcome of the studies.
Mr Speaker, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) adopts a range of approaches and metrics to evaluate the quality and outcomes of SkillsFuture-funded programmes.
SSG runs the Training Quality and Outcomes Measures (TRAQOM) survey on all SSG-funded programmes, to collect trainee feedback on the quality of training and whether the training has enabled them to improve their work performance and take on enhanced job roles.
This is a useful dimension because not all training necessarily leads to an immediate wage increase. Training benefits workers, who are otherwise at risk of displacement, to stay employable and to keep their jobs. The TRAQOM survey results are published on the MySkillsFuture portal to help individuals make informed training choices, and SSG uses these results when assessing training providers for continued funding.
In addition, we work with partners, such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to monitor wage and employment outcomes through programme-specific surveys and studies. Economic studies that have been published include evaluations of the Work-Study Post-Diploma programmes in 2019 and Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training in 2018.
Both showed trainees graduating from these programmes with positive wage outcomes. Regular surveys, such as the Work-Study Programme Outcomes Survey, also collect information on employment outcomes six months after completion of the programme.
SSG is continually enhancing its methods of assessment and evaluation of outcomes of training courses. This is to enable us to better channel our subsidies to courses that deliver manpower development outcomes for Singaporeans.
Mr Perera, a quick question, please.
I thank the Minister of State for her helpful reply. Just one supplementary question. Based on these survey results – which I assume are provided by a trainer or training organisation – has there been any cases of a training organisation that consistently gets very poor results and, therefore, has been removed from the list of trainers that are eligible for Government financial support?
I thank Mr Leon Perera for the supplementary question. I do not have the data with me, but I believe that SSG has considered past feedback from trainees on training providers where the courses did not meet their expectations and that the training quality was deemed to be not satisfactory, and had either worked with the training providers to adjust training mode of conduct or ceased training for such training providers.
Order. End of question time, The Clerk will now proceed to read the Orders of the Day.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]
PAPERCUTS