Skills Upgrading Push Lauded, But Clarity Needed on Targeted Support

Experts Call for Training Allowances to Be Calibrated to Address Workers' Various Needs

- Tay Hong Yi

Although industry players lauded the moves to extend the workforce skills upgrading push in recent Singapore Budgets, they called for more information on how the latest schemes can be calibrated to address different workforce and training needs.

A $300 monthly training allowance for mid-career workers aged 40 and above undergoing selected part-time training programmes from early 2026 is a major scheme Prime Minister Lawrence Wong unveiled in his Budget statement on Feb 18.

It expands on the SkillsFuture Mid-Career Training Allowance for mid-career workers undergoing full-time training previously unveiled in Budget 2024. The scheme for full-time training is poised for launch in mid-March.

From what has been announced to date, it is unclear how the allowances will account for key factors that would affect the extent to which workers feel the pinch in relation to course fees and other expenses.

To start with, some part-time studies require learners to cut back on work hours and potentially draw a lower salary, while other people take night classes that do not eat into their hours spent working.

Moreover, workers who still need to pay for all or part of the course fees themselves may be in greater need of help, compared with those funded by employers.

Observers have pointed out the need for levers to calibrate training allowances to address key aspects of learners' personal circumstances.

Dr Samson Tan, director for learning and professional development at the Institute for Adult Learning, noted that the $300 training allowance is intended to help defray training-related expenses, whereas the larger allowance for full-time training also reflects the opportunity cost of wages forgone.

These training-related expenses include fees and course materials, as PM Wong said in his maiden National Day Rally speech in 2024.