SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with five Trade Associations & Chambers (TACs) and Professional Bodies, to appoint them as our “Skills Development Partners”. The signing of the Memoranda of Understanding was witnessed by Minister of State for Education and Manpower, Ms Gan Siow Huang, as part of this year’s SkillsFuture Festival.

These five TACs and Professional Bodies are: The Institution of Engineers (IES), Singapore; Institute for Human Resource Professionals (IHRP); Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SCCCI); Singapore Computer Society (SCS); and SGTech. The objective of these partnerships is to reach out to the workforce and enterprises in the TACs’ and Professional Bodies’ respective sectors, to (a) identify needed sectoral skills more responsively; (b) better link skills development with ongoing enterprise transformation and job redesign within the sector; and (c) help companies better recognise employees’ skills acquisition and skills mastery.
 
SSG, will support capacity and capability building within the TACs and Professional Bodies, and achieve these objectives through structured training programmes such as bootcamps, masterclasses and potential personnel attachments with SSG. These will help equip TACs and Professional Bodies with the know-how in skills analytics, skills research methodologies and data tools to extract skills insights. SSG will also partner the TACs and Professional Bodies to nurture dedicated “Skills Development Specialists” who will plan and execute the Skills Development Partners’ activities.

Trade Associations Deepening Skills Through the Inaugural TA 101 Course

As Trade Associations strive to do more for their sectors, they themselves will need to upskill. At today’s MOU signing and the graduation event of the inaugural Trade Association (TA) 101 course, MOS Gan presented Joint Certificates of Completion to participants who completed the course jointly developed by SCCCI and Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP).

SCCCI launched the first TA 101 training course on 19 July 2022 and has trained an inaugural batch of 18 TAC professionals. The five-day course, covering skills areas relevant to TAC Strategic Thrusts of collaboration, innovation and advocacy, is aligned to the skills standards in the Competency Framework for TAC (CFTAC). Launched in January this year, the CFTAC was spearheaded by SCCCI, and co-developed with Singapore Business Federation (SBF). The TA 101 course is the first structured training programme created for the TACs, and more skills development initiatives will be curated and rolled out progressively to uplift the capabilities of the TAC professionals so they can be more effective in supporting the implementation of the Industry Transformation Maps for the members and sectors they serve.