Take-up Rate of SkillsFuture-supported AI-related Training Course

9 Mr Ng Chee Meng asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the take-up rate of AI-related skills training courses supported by SkillsFuture; and (b) whether the Ministry has targets on the number of workers, especially among professionals, managers and executives, who should go for such upskilling.

The Senior Minister of State for Education (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Minister for Education) : Mr Speaker, there are around 1,600 artificial intelligence (AI)-related courses supported by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), with 137,000 training places taken up by more than 105,000 individuals last year.

AI has been advancing rapidly and has the potential to transform the way we work across industries and jobs. While we do not set targets specifically on the number of workers who go for AI training, we encourage all Singaporeans to pursue upskilling and lifelong learning to stay relevant, including by keeping abreast of AI and other developments. The Government will continue to support Singaporeans in their upskilling journey through substantial course fee subsidies as well as the SkillsFuture Credit to offset out-of-pocket costs.

Mr Speaker : Mr Ng.

Mr Ng Chee Meng (Jalan Kayu) : Thank you, Mr Speaker. There is indeed very good work done by the Ministry of Education and SSG in this area, and we are deeply appreciative. The 1,600 or so AI courses listed do cost a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, even after funding. And for many workers, including professionals, managers and executives (PMEs), this myriad number of courses can be quite daunting for them to survey and find out what they should really be embarking on for equipping themselves to be AI-ready.

So, three supplementary questions. How can we better redesign our skills framework and courses to help our PMEs equip themselves to be AI-ready? Will SkillsFuture consider curating a list of courses tailored for PME needs, from foundational AI literacy to maybe more specific AI deep skills to tailor for their job roles or new possibilities? And lastly, for the PMEs who want to take higher level AI courses, would the Ministry or SSG consider additional targeted funding? Because some of these higher-level deep AI courses do cost a few thousand dollars after subsidy support. Can we consider targeted support, such as enhanced funding or even possibilities of workplace-supported learning?

Dr Janil Puthucheary : Sir, I thank Mr Ng for his questions. The short answer to all three is that we will continue to review how we signpost, direct and curate courses, and encourage Singaporeans to take up these courses to be able to support their lifelong learning and make every opportunity that they are aspiring to available to them.

We are working with the industry to look to see how we develop the list of tasks and map them to the courses – to address his first point. We will continue to do so. We are trying to improve our signposting, both in terms of the websites, the online offerings as well as the counselling that people get, so that there is a sense of where the journey should take them as they develop their AI skills. And we will continue to review how we support Singaporeans through the variety of subsidies and funding arrangements.

Mr Speaker : Mr Pritam Singh.

Mr Pritam Singh (Aljunied) : Thank you, Speaker. Just one supplementary question. Does the Government plan to track the deployment of individuals and workers at the workplace after their attendance of such AI courses, in view of the significant public subsidies that the Government expenses on these courses?

Dr Janil Puthucheary : Certainly, we work closely with the economic agencies and the industry to understand how individuals who go through training then subsequently are deployed and use their skills.

The overall approach is there, but to say that we do so specifically for AI, may be a little bit harder. Because an AI course can be something introductory which someone needs in order to remain in their current job role and increase their productivity and efficiency, all the way through to a transformative course where they are pivoting to a different company, a different job role and a different career path.

But we will continue to study this and find ways to make sure that the type of support that we provide, the training that is made available, is best suited to the aspirations of the individual learner but also makes possible opportunities within our landscape.