Increasing Enrolment in Polytechnic Courses that Train Healthcare, Infocomm Technology, Cybersecurity and E-commerce Professionals
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Dr Wan Rizal’s inquiry to Minister for Education Mr Lawrence Wong on increasing polytechnic intake for healthcare, infocomm technology, cybersecurity, and e-commerce courses. Minister for Education Mr Lawrence Wong reported that Health Sciences and Information & Digital Technologies courses grew to 20.0% of all polytechnic places in 2021. He highlighted that students across all diplomas can access growth-sector electives like the Internet of Things to gain exposure to emerging industry trends. Additionally, polytechnics offer Continuing Education and Training programs, such as Specialist and Advanced Diplomas, in high-demand fields like biomedical science and e-commerce. The Ministry continues to collaborate with economic agencies to balance course supply with student interest, industry demand, and national manpower requirements.
Transcript
26 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Education as there is an increasing demand for professionals in the healthcare, infocomm technology, cybersecurity and e-commerce sectors, whether the Ministry will consider to offer more of such related courses in local polytechnics, allowing students to gain a relevant foothold in the job market during the current economic climate.
Mr Lawrence Wong: The Ministry of Education works closely with the polytechnics and manpower and economic agencies to plan the supply of places across the polytechnics, taking into account students’ interests, industry demand and national manpower needs. In 2021, Health Sciences and Information & Digital Technologies courses accounted for 20.0% of all polytechnic places, up from 16.8% in 2017, reflecting healthy industry demand, as well as students’ interests.
More broadly, the polytechnics seek to strengthen students’ exposure to emerging areas, including the ones mentioned by the Member. These opportunities are not confined to students in these fields. For example, all Singapore Polytechnic students can offer electives that are relevant for growth sectors, such as the Internet of Things and Entrepreneurship, regardless of their diploma course.
In addition, the polytechnics offer Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses in emerging and high demand sectors, including healthcare, medical technology, biomedical science, digital media and e-commerce. These range from full-qualification Part-time Diplomas, Specialist Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas and Work-Study Post Diplomas, to modular courses of a shorter duration.