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The biggest employer in Singapore is opening its doors to people who did not finish secondary school, as long as they pass a skills training and certification scheme conducted by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA).
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The Civil Service, which hires 60,000 people, joins 45 other companies that recognise the Employability Skills System (ESS) as an alternative criterion to GCE N- or O-levels in hiring staff. The ESS, which comprises a series of training and assessment levels in literacy, numeracy and generic workplace skills, will also be recognised for promotion in selected division positions.
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"Today's workforce is more diverse and many have chosen competency-based training over the traditional route of formal education," said Ms Lim Soo Hoon, Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Division.
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The ESS was started in March 2005 for adult workers who had missed out on attaining formal education qualifications. There are about 500,000 workers without GCE N- or O-level qualifications, while thousands of youths are estimated to drop out of school after Secondary 4 every year.
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As of March, 32,458 workers have made it through this scheme to apply for jobs at 45 firms — including Novotel Clarke Quay, Giordano and NTUC FairPrice — or a course at 14 training institutes, such as the Construction Industry Training Institute and the Tourism Management Institute of Singapore.
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Declining to be named, a cargo handler called it "a good move" because dropouts do not easily find a stable job with decent pay.
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WDA chief executive Ong Ye Kung said: "It signals clearly to workers and employers that while formal academic qualifications are important, they are not the only route to finding jobs. Our system can't be an expressway with only one exit, such that if you miss it, you end up going nowhere."

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Source : TODAYonline