A total of 23 polytechnic graduates, or 3 percent, who have been placed on the SGUnited Traineeships Programme have dropped out of it for various reasons, said Minister of State for Manpower Gan Siow Huang in Parliament on Thursday (25 February).
She explained that these 23 students were part of the 720 polytechnic graduates who have enrolled into the programme as of December last year.
“As of end December 2020, about 720 polytechnic graduates have been placed into SGUnited Traineeships. Of these, 23 participants, or 3 percent, did not complete the programme,” Ms Gan said.
She said this in response to questioned asked by MP for Jalan Besar GRC Dr Wan Rizal, who wanted to know the number of polytechnic graduates who dropped out from the programmes and the reasons for it.
Ms Gan noted that the reasons for these graduates to not complete the programme include having found a full-time employment, or other undisclosed personal or medical reasons.
“The Singapore Business Federation, which is our programme partner managing the SGUnited Traineeship Programme, surveys host organisations and the trainees who have completed the programme or left halfway.
“For those who did not complete the programme, the reasons were made was because they have found full time employment, or have not disclosed personal or medical reasons,” she explained.
The SGUnited Traineeships Programme was launched in June last year to help recent graduates from universities and polytechnics to improve their employability after the demand for hiring picks up after the pandemic.
According to Ms Gan, the programme offers graduates “meaningful opportunities” for them to pick up skills in preparation of full-time jobs.
“I’m encouraged to see the majority of the trainees continue to go through with their traineeships.”
When Dr Wan Rizal asked if the 720 graduates are in the same field that they actually studied in, Ms Gan said she don’t have the information right now but assures that these graduates are encouraged to take up traineeships relevant to their field of study.
“I do not have the information on whether the polytechnic graduates who opted for the traineeships are actually in sectors relevant to what they’ve studied,” she said.
She continued, “But we do know that polytechnic graduates have a wide range of choices of traineeships, and 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.”
