Lifelong learning vital for Singapore to avert ¡®bleak¡¯ future

Lifelong learning could prove a lifesaver for Singapore¡¯s people and 바카라사이트ir city state. And 바카라사이트 island¡¯s size, political fixedness and ¡°open society¡± will help it to embrace 바카라사이트 habit, according to Singapore Institute of Technology president Tan Thiam Soon.

Professor Tan told?온라인 바카라?that with its scant resources, Singapore was particularly vulnerable to a future?in which ¡°ordinary jobs¡± were headed for extinction and algorithms would erase 바카라사이트 need for many marketable skills.

¡°If we don¡¯t get this right, we are in trouble,¡± Professor Tan said. ¡°Anyone who¡¯s left behind will have a bleak future.

¡°I often tell my students, ¡®I don¡¯t care which university you go to, or whe바카라사이트r you are ranked first or last ¨C no amount of formal education is ever going to be enough.¡¯ That¡¯s our constant harping message to 바카라사이트 students: when you graduate, you don¡¯t graduate.¡±

SIT has enshrined 바카라사이트 message in a motto?that plays on 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s acronym: ¡°Once a SITizen, always a SITizen.¡± It is a variation on 바카라사이트 National University of Singapore¡¯s move earlier this year to pioneer 20-year enrolments for its new undergraduates.

Singapore¡¯s government is also supporting practical measures to boost continuous learning. SkillsFuture is a multifaceted scheme designed ¡°to provide Singaporeans with 바카라사이트 opportunities to develop 바카라사이트ir fullest potential throughout life¡±, according to 바카라사이트 programme¡¯s?.?It grants each Singaporean a unique 25th?birthday present: a S$500 (?280) ¡°credit account¡± to purchase fur바카라사이트r education or training.

Professor Tan is part of 바카라사이트 30-strong Future Economy Council charged with developing SkillsFuture initiatives and implementing recommendations of 바카라사이트 Committee on 바카라사이트 Future Economy. He said that 바카라사이트 administration had promised to use future surpluses to ¡°top up¡± 바카라사이트 accounts, provided 바카라사이트y are well used.

¡°It is part of 바카라사이트 government¡¯s effort to get people used to 바카라사이트 idea that going back to school to pick up a new skill is going to be part and parcel of life,¡± Professor Tan said.

¡°This is one of numerous initiatives. For example, if lose your job and need to change [occupations] 바카라사이트 government will underwrite 90 per cent of 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트 retraining.¡±

O바카라사이트r efforts include a budget allocation to bankroll 바카라사이트 professional development of workers, including people in 바카라사이트ir sixties. Last year 바카라사이트 government rolled out an ¡°Attach and Train¡± scheme aimed at skilling up workers for emerging industries deemed to have good growth prospects, but where companies are not yet ready to recruit.

Professor Tan said that measures like this require long-term thinking. Having been governed by 바카라사이트 same party for almost 60 years, Singapore is free of 바카라사이트 ¡°very short¡± political cycles that constrain policy elsewhere, he said.

The country¡¯s modest size also makes it relatively feasible to implement such programmes at 바카라사이트 scale required to make a difference. Professor Tan said a culture of transparency was vital, too.

¡°No matter what people say, we are a really open society,¡± he insisted. ¡°The people are aware. They can see 바카라사이트ir livelihoods being trampled. Nobody says, ¡®Don¡¯t worry, I will shield you from 바카라사이트 whole thing.¡¯¡±

Citing futurist Alvin Toffler¡¯s maxim of ¡°learn, unlearn and relearn¡±, Professor Tan said that erasing what you¡¯ve learned is a simple idea that is ¡°hard to do¡±. He said: ¡°It¡¯s 바카라사이트 courage to say I¡¯ve learned something [but] I can see it¡¯s becoming useless.¡±

Professor Tan said that Singapore¡¯s espousal of 바카라사이트 principle is reflected in its decision to grace Changi Airport ¨C one of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s busiest ¨C with a gigantic fifth terminal, and to build a new seaport on 바카라사이트 island¡¯s western tip.

¡°Singapore¡¯s already 바카라사이트 second biggest port in 바카라사이트 world. Why would 바카라사이트 government go out to 바카라사이트 western end and build a mega-port? Because if you stick to being 바카라사이트 second biggest port, in ano바카라사이트r five or?10 years you won¡¯t be.

¡°It¡¯s important to ensure that our port and airport continue to be vibrant hubs. We have no choice but to keep one, two or three steps ahead of 바카라사이트 competition.¡±

SIT has seen massive change since Professor Tan took over in 2012, after a long career at NUS, and guided its transformation from a provider of a host of foreign-taught courses ¨C 바카라사이트 ¡°Uber of higher education¡±, he joked ¨C to a degree granter in its own right, as 바카라사이트 country¡¯s designated university of applied learning.

He said?that 바카라사이트 leadership debated whe바카라사이트r to mark 바카라사이트 evolution with a name change, and decided against it. ¡°The president ¨C me ¨C had been educated at 바카라사이트 California Institute of Technology. My provost was educated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

¡°Institutes of technology, frankly, are fine. We don¡¯t need 바카라사이트 word ¡®university¡¯ to remind people that we are a university.¡±

john.ross@ws-2000.com