Two new statutory boards to be formed for skills and employment

Two new statutory boards will be formed to drive the national SkillsFuture initiative and to ensure competitiveness and quality jobs for Singaporeans.

The SkillsFuture Singapore statutory board, under the Ministry of Education (MOE), will take over some of the functions currently performed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and absorb the Council for Private Education statutory board.

At the same time, WDA will be reconstituted into a new statutory board called Workforce Singapore, focused on jobs and ensuring enterprises can become manpower-lean while remaining competitive. The new statutory board will remain under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

The changes, which require amendments to existing laws and will have to go through the Parliament, will involve a "reorganisation within the Government" rather than increase the overall number of statutory boards, MOE and MOM said in a joint media release.

The statutory boards are expected to be established by the end of this year, subject to the completion of the necessary legislative processes, the ministries said, adding that WDA and CPE will continue to perform their statutory functions in the meantime.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies, said the reorganisation will enable each organisation to focus on its key mission and Singapore’s priorities for the future: SkillsFuture and quality jobs for Singaporeans.
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“SkillsFuture Singapore will foster a culture of lifelong learning, and help to integrate a whole system of education and training through life. Workforce Singapore will be MOM’s agent in developing a strong Singaporean core in each sector of our economy, and help companies to be manpower-lean while remaining competitive,” he said.