Chairman,
In my maiden speech at the debate on the President’s address, I said that SkillsFuture risks becoming a supermarket of courses—plenty of choice, but no clear ladder to climb towards better career outcomes. Today I want to return to that concern, and ask the Ministry to take three concrete steps.
The urgency is real. According to Randstad’s Workmonitor 2026 report, global job postings requiring AI agent skills surged by over 1,500% in 2025 alone. A three- or four-year bachelor’s degree cannot keep pace with that kind of velocity. And neither can our current continuous education ecosystem that is still struggling to get employers to recognise lifelong learning credentials at all.
Firstly, as I suggested in my maiden speech, the Careers and Skills Passport should evolve into a dynamic, living credential. Right now, it functions largely as a digital filing cabinet. Former Education Minister Chan articulated a vision, in July 2024, of a living ecosystem where micro-credentials from across our IHLs stack into formal qualifications. That vision remains aspirational. I ask the Ministry to set a concrete timeline for full cross-IHL recognition—across universities, polytechnics, and ITE—so that adult learners can build towards a credible, recognised qualification piece by piece, with each step appropriately documented in their Careers and Skills Passport.
Secondly, cross-recognition only works if there is enough worth recognising. I welcome the new AI programmes our IHLs have been launching. But the pace of market demand is outrunning the pace of supply. I ask the Ministry to set explicit targets for IHL micro-credential offerings in fast-moving sectors—and to report progress against those targets annually, so that we can hold ourselves accountable.
Thirdly, we must look beyond our shores. Singapore prides itself on being open to the world. Our upskilling framework should be no different. There is a vast ecosystem online of world-class universities offering masters-level micro-credentials through various platforms. MIT’s MicroMasters programmes on edX, and Georgia Tech’s MicroMasters in Analytics—which stack directly towards their fully accredited Online Master of Science in Analytics—are exactly the kind of high-signal, stackable credentials that carry strong global employer recognition. I ask the Ministry to extend SkillsFuture credit eligibility and Careers and Skills Passport recognition to such credentials from reputable overseas universities—not to replace our IHLs, but to fill gaps while local capacity develops.
The Prime Minister has made AI a centrepiece of this year’s Budget. The world is not waiting. Our workers are not waiting. Our continuous education ecosystem must keep pace. I urge the Ministry to match that urgency.
