Criteria to Qualify Companies to Conduct Workforce Skills Qualifications Courses

15 Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) (a) what are the criteria to qualify a company to conduct Workforce Skills Qualifications courses; (b) what can students do when the quality of the instructors is not as advertised; and (c) how does the Ministry oversee these companies to ensure they are not overcharging.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Ms Low Yen Ling) (for the Minister for Education (Higher Learning and Skills)): Mr Deputy Speaker, before accrediting any Singapore Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training course provider, the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency (SSG) must first evaluate the provider's ability to design and develop the curriculum, the design of its courseware, that means the course materials, its training delivery, system of assessment, the Approved Training Organisation (ATO)'s financial management practices and whether the ATO has qualified adult educators – so, six-pronged criteria.

The training provider must meet these standards and requirements before it is appointed as an ATO to deliver WSQ programmes. To ensure that continued compliance, SSG regularly audits the ATOs' systems and processes and the outcomes of such audits are reviewed and considered by SSG for the renewal of the ATOs' application to offer training. So, even after they are appointed, we will continue to do random audits to ensure that they comply. If not, upon renewal, it may be revoked.

To ensure and uphold the standards of ATOs' training, SSG recently introduced a community feedback feature in the MySkillsFuture portal which was launched on 29 November 2017. Course participants can directly provide feedback and views on the quality of learning on the respective SkillsFuture Credit-eligible courses they attended.

I also would like to share with the Members that this year, SSG will publish on MySkillsFuture portal, information on the training outcomes of SSG-supported courses. So, you can see more information about the courses to make an informed decision. This is done because we want to make available information for individuals or Singaporeans to make more informed learning choices. It will also serve to heighten the ATOs' accountability for results in their training. SSG will continue to look for ways of improving greater transparency and information on training quality and impact.

As for the question of affordability of course fees, SSG requires ATOs to seek its approval for their course fees. But we all know in a free market, the best safeguard against unreasonable pricing is competition. Today, we have about 500 training providers delivering WSQ courses. In a way, it serves as some form of check on the course fees.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Ms Chia Yong Yong, you have a supplementary question?

Ms Chia Yong Yong (Nominated Member): Yes. Thank you, Sir. I have a question for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary. In any application for accreditation by a potential service provider or trainers, are the applicants required to declare any association or relations to other service providers who may have been under investigation or who may have been penalised for any improper conduct? And such association might include relationships to shareholders, directors and managers of errant or suspected errant trainers.

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank the Nominated Member of Parliament Ms Chia Yong Yong for her supplementary questions. I highlighted the six-pronged criteria that SSG will take into consideration when they evaluate, as to whether we should appoint the ATO. We will certainly also look at the track record of the organisation. This is where I also want to reassure her and Members if any members of the public are aware that a particular organisation, in terms of the history or background, is quite dubious, because of their linkages with other service providers, we welcome them to step forward and share this information with SSG.

On Monday, Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked about the number for the hotline. I am happy to share with the House that the SSG's hotline is 6785 5785. Operating hours are from Monday to Friday, 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, and on Saturday, 8.30 am to 1.00 pm. Do not be worried. For any other hours outside of the operating hours, please assure your residents or members of the public to leave their contact details. We will close the loop with them during the next working day.

In addition, if the members of the public prefer to send in their feedback via email or even via the MySkillsFuture portal, they can do so through the new feature I mentioned earlier – community feedback feature.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon): Sir, there is saying on the ground, that says, "the best business to do nowadays is where the Government gives out grants". That is why I think a lot of people jump into this. I would like to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary two supplementary questions. How can the Ministry provide more information to course applicants to make an informed decision? The second question is, will the Ministry consider open review of courses? Just like when we want to book hotels or restaurants overseas, there are always some reviews for us to view. So, will the Ministry consider that, so that when a participant wants to go for that course, they will look at the reviews?

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for her supplementary questions and I want to assure her and the Members in the House that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has stringent standards on the quality of the WSQ training providers. For example, you would probably recall that from October 2014, we require the trainers for the WSQ-approved training organisations, at least 80% of their trainers must have Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) or equivalent. So, we want to ensure the competency of the training providers.

The question that the Member asked about, whether we can put out more information, she would be glad that this is the intent of SSG and MOE. I mentioned briefly earlier that the portal called MySkillsFuture portal was launched on 29 November 2017 to help Singaporeans and course applicants to make better, informed decision. We have received feedback from course participants. So, progressively, starting from this month, SSG will progressively publish information on a few things: the course quality, trainee's rating on course outcome, like what the Member has mentioned. This covers areas such as effective learning, standards of the trainers, course content, the ability to apply the learning, impact on job performance and job scope, as well as the providers' customer service.

So, we want to assure Er Dr Lee Bee Wah and Members that course applicants can be assured that the key criteria of quality, course transparency and accountability really underpin SSG's efforts to enhance Singaporeans' learning needs.

Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have a supplementary for the Senior Parliamentary Secretary with regard to the training providers who have attained ATO and Accredited Training Provider (ATP). Could the Ministry consider ranking these training providers based on the quality of teaching? Very often, we hear of the main trainers to be ACTA accredited but then, if they are not there, the relief trainers do not have that certification.

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank Ms Thanaletchimi for her suggestions which we will consider. In practical terms, what could be a top training organisation may not exactly be a top one for another course applicant; it depends on their learning needs, what industry they are in, and so on.

I have briefly mentioned ACTA. Allow me to elaborate because I think Ms Thanaletchimi will be quite keen. As part of our efforts to enhance the professional standards and also the identity of the adult educators in the Training Adult Education (TAE) industry, SSG has, from October 2014, developed the TAE professional competency model which is a skills reference framework with clear descriptions of the competencies and proficiencies that is required of our adult educators. So, all hands on deck, we are trying to level up the professional standards of the adult educators to ensure that Singaporeans who want to level up their education, their skills, will be well placed to do so.

Mr Deputy Speaker: Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, last clarification.

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah: Just now, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary mentioned about feedback by course participants. I would like to ask, is the feedback submitted to the course provider or to the Ministry directly? Because there may be certain censorship there. Also, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary did not reply to my specific question of an open review system. If it is an open review, people can easily go online to see the reviews of past participants.

Ms Low Yen Ling: I want to thank Er Dr Lee Bee Wah for her question. With regards to feedback, it will be collected using a two-prong approach. Many of us would have attended courses and at the end of the course, you probably would be given a feedback form. I think she is alluding to that. Indeed, there may be some course participants' views which may be moderated. This is why we have recently introduced a new feature on the MySkillsFuture portal. This is the Community Feedback feature. For residents who feel more comfortable calling, I have provided the hotline. There are many ways to get to us to make sure that Singaporeans have all channels to provide us information of any ATO or training provider, if they suspect any malpractice or any misleading marketing practices or even fraudulent activities.

I thought I had answered that question but let me do that again. The Member talked about open review and I highlighted that starting this month we will progressively put out more information on the portal and those information cannot just come from nowhere. The information in areas that I mentioned, for example trainees rating, must come from the participants of the courses previously.