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Budget 2024: Singapore to provide S$4,000 SkillsFuture credit top-up to mid-career workers aged 40 and above
This will help them to refresh skillsets and harness new technologies; they will also receive subsidies to pursue another full-time diploma
SINGAPORE — In order to help mid-career workers refresh their skillsets, Singapore will introduce a new SkillsFuture Level-Up programme, which includes a S$4,000 credit top-up in May for all Singaporeans aged 40 and above.
Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced this programme during his Budget 2024 speech in Parliament on Friday (16 February), as he emphasised the importance of continuous skills upgrading.
"We therefore have to invest even more in our human capital and help our workers refresh and update their skills, and learn how to harness new technologies more effectively," he said.
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"We are making a significant enhancement to our SkillsFuture ecosystem, but we will reap the full benefits only if all of us - the government, employers, workers and unions - lean forward to truly deepen this culture of lifelong learning and skills mastery. This must be our shared commitment to one another to help our fellow Singaporeans develop to their fullest potential, and have productive and meaningful careers."
This usage of this additional amount will be confined to selected training programmes with better employability outcomes. This includes part-time and full-time diploma, post-diploma, undergraduate programmes, and Progressive Wage Model sector courses.
Subsidies to pursue another full-time diploma
Besides the credit top-up, Singaporeans aged 40 and above will also receive subsidies to pursue another full-time diploma at polytechnics, ITE and art institutions from academic year 2025. There will also be a monthly training allowance for those who enrol in selected full-time courses, equivalent to 50 per cent of the individual's average income over the latest available 12-month period and capped at $3,000 per month.
DPM Wong added that every individual can receive up to 24 months of training allowance throughout their lifetime.
"We will give every Singaporean another bite of the education subsidy. Even after you have graduated from an institution of higher learning as a younger person. You can come back again after you turn 40 to do a full time diploma and it will be at subsidised rates," he said.
More details of the SkillsFuture top-ups will be provided at the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament in the coming weeks.
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