New Delhi: Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s visit to Singapore concluded on Wednesday. The Minister was on a three-day visit to Singapore to strengthen existing ties and to explore the possibility for widening the scope of bilateral engagement in education and skill development.
On the 3rd day of his visit, Dharmendra met his Singapore Counterpart, Minister for Education, Chan Chun Sing. The Ministers had fruitful conversations on further strengthening the bilateral cooperation and deepening engagements in all areas of education and skill development, an official statement said.
Dharmendra also explored ways in which Singapore can partner with India for seamlessly integrating skilling & vocational education starting from the school-level itself. Both the Ministers agreed to broaden the contours of the existing partnership through institutional mechanisms, particularly towards building capacities of teachers and trainers, incorporating future skills into the education and skilling ecosystem as well as explore engagement with special schools, sport schools.
He expressed his gratitude to Minister Chan Chun Sing for their enriching participation in the previous three G20 Education Working Group Meetings. “Natural allies, like India and Singapore, remain committed to work together for mutual and global prosperity,” he said.
Singapore delegation will be participating in the forthcoming G20 Education Ministers’ Meeting in Pune.
Dharmendra also visited SkillsFuture Singapore, a key initiative of the Government of Singapore to make the country future-ready. Skills Future Singapore (SSG) drives and coordinates the implementation of the national SkillsFuture movement, promotes a culture and holistic system of lifelong learning through the pursuit of skills mastery, and strengthens the ecosystem of quality education and training in Singapore.
Speaking on the occasion, Dharmendra said that SkillsFuture envisions to make Singapore a nation of lifelong learners and a society that values skills mastery. Skills Future initiative has allowed Singaporeans to maximise their potential and is a key driver of Singapore’s next phase of development, he added.
The Minister highlighted that continuous education and lifelong learning is also the core of NEP in India. Insights gained today will add value to our efforts of transforming India’s skill ecosystem, creating a future-ready workforce and harnessing the full potential of our young demography to drive national progress, he added.
The Minister also visited Singapore University of Technology and Design today.
During his 3-day visit to Singapore, the Minister met various key Ministers of Singaporean Government including DPM & Minister for Finance, Singapore, Lawrence Wong; Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong; Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan; Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
Building on the outcomes of the G20 Future of Work workshop in Bhubaneswar, they discussed ways in which India can leverage the expertise and knowledge of Singapore for addressing common challenges and transforming the Indian skills ecosystem.
Dharmendra said that India and Singapore share strong historical, cultural and civilizational links. Our friendship today is rooted in reciprocity, mutual trust and respect. Scaling up partnerships in knowledge, skills and frontier areas will add new dimensions to our long-standing friendship, he added.
The Minister also visited various School, higher and skilling institutions including Nanyang Technological University, Spectra Secondary School, SkillsFuture, Institute of Technical Education Singapore.
The Minister had the opportunity to have a greater overview of the best practices and models being followed in Singapore for training of the workforce. He interacted with teachers to know more about the teaching-learning environment, pedagogy, among others.
Pradhan was happy to know that the school prioritises skills-based education and also focuses on encouraging learning at the pace suitable for every learner to prepare them for future workplaces.
The Minister also interacted with Indian students and received good insights on the roadmap to higher education, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and taking learning beyond the four walls of the classroom.
Pradhan stressed that the 21st century is going to be India’s century. World class global universities, like NTU and Indian universities must collaborate and deepen their engagements to create new models to inspire the 21st century, he added.
The Minister also met members of alumni of IIT and IIMs, Odia Association and Indian Diaspora in Singapore during his visit.
