Proposal to Conduct Skills Test in Singapore for Foreign Workers for Construction Sector

14 Miss Cheryl Chan Wei Ling asked the Minister for National Development to help the construction sector expedite the availability of overseas workers and restart projects post-COVID-19 (a) whether the Skills Evaluation Certificate (Knowledge) test can be conducted in Singapore upon the overseas workers' arrival instead of at overseas testing centres; and (b) whether there can be an exemption for workers with past experience in the same trade in Singapore.

The Minister of State for National Development (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Minister for National Development): Mr Speaker, Sir, we require new foreign construction workers to pass the Skills Evaluation Certificate (Knowledge) test, or SEC(K) trade test, at our overseas testing centres to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary trade knowledge and skills competency before coming to Singapore to work. This way, employers and the workers themselves can be assured that the workers are able to meet the requirements before incurring expenses, such as airfare, to travel to Singapore.

For workers that have previously obtained the necessary SEC(K) qualifications in a particular trade, they do not need to retake the SEC(K) test before returning to Singapore to work in the same trade.