The tale of two Ministers: Is Ong Ye Kung recycling fluff or has Indranee Rajah failed?

In a keynote address at the 3rd International Congress on Vocational and Professional Education and Training in Switzerland, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said that Singapore must adopt the best aspects of the Swiss education.

Minister Ong said that education systems faced the danger of becoming obsolete due technological disruption, while national boarders were becoming “more porous than ever”, resulting in a necessity to develop critical “soft skills” to collaborate with fellow human beings.

He said that the Swiss workplace apprentice scheme is of interest to Singapore.

"Two years ago, I visited Swatch and saw how the company put aside intra-industry competition, and trained craftsmen for the entire watch industry. This is a national ethos rarely seen in other countries. I see a more egalitarian society, where parents and children choose either the academic or apprenticeship route based on the child's interests, aptitudes and passion".

The 4G leader said that this would supplement Singapore’s existing success, where both the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University have done well in international rankings and 9 in 10 students have job offers within six months of graduation.

"Society must broaden its notion of success. Meritocracy must also take on an enlarged meaning that represents opportunities and social mobility and be commensurate with the multiple pathway mobility and the education system."

In 2014, ASPIRE Chairperson Indranee Rajah already proposed a similar scheme

Back in Jan 2014, the government formed a committee called ‘Applied Study in Polytechnics and Institute of Education Review’ (ASPIRE). The purpose of the committee was to look at ways in which policies can be implemented to let ITE and polytechnic graduates advance.

Chaired by the then Senior Minister of State for Education and Law Indranee Rajah. She visited Switzerland and Germany to the following months to study their vocational training model and implement the scheme in Singapore.

According to the report, Swiss students complete 9 years of formal education before they choose between an academic or vocational training route. Neither route is seen as more prestigious than the other, with more than two-thirds of students choosing the vocational route.

There, they take on a salaried apprenticeship while studying at the same time before graduating with a ‘Swiss Vocational Education’ Diploma. This diploma is an affirmation of a skilled worker and is highly sought after by employees.

That August, the Committee made several recommendations to the Ministry of Education, which includes a similar work and study scheme as well.

“Starting in 2016, Place-and-Train programmes will be launched for fresh polytechnic and ITE graduates in sectors which require deeper skills training. These programmes will be designed in collaboration with industry to ensure their relevance to industry”.

In other words, Minister Ong's proposal was already suggested some 4 years back by his Cabinet colleague.

A quick check online shows that most polytechnic programmes offered in 2018 remains the same as 5 years back - it is a 3-year programme with 2.5 years of classroom study with an professional work attachment lasting 4 to 6 months.

So, do you think Minister Ong is recycling fluff? Or have the suggestions by his cabinet colleague 4 years earlier come to nought?

This entry was posted in Opinion.

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