Union Minister’s Visit: India & Singapore Agree To Join Hands To Build Future-Ready Workforce

Bhubaneswar: India and Singapore will join hands to build a future-ready workforce as part of strategic partnership.

This was revealed during a meeting of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore, Lawrence Wong on Monday. Pradhan is on a three-day visit to Singapore to strengthen existing ties and explore the possibility for widening the scope of bilateral engagement in education and skill development.

During the meeting with Wong, it was agreed to work together, aiming to create opportunities for lifelong learning, building a future-ready workforce, and making knowledge and skill development a key pillar of strategic partnership.

Pradhan said the National Education Policy (NEP) specifically focuses on providing early exposure to vocational education in middle schools, ensuring that market relevance of training as well as building capacity of our institutions to provide technical and vocational education. He stressed on learning from the best practices of Singapore and to collaborate and customise it to meet Indian needs.

Pradhan had a discussion with Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong. The Ministers had fruitful conversations on strengthening skill development and vocational training linkages through all mechanisms for creating a seamless architecture for skilling and lifelong learning.

Building on the outcomes of the G20 Future of Work workshop in Bhubaneswar, they also discussed ways in which India can leverage the expertise and knowledge of Singapore for addressing common challenges and transforming the Indian skills ecosystem.

During a visit to Spectra Secondary School, Pradhan interacted with students and teachers to know the teaching-learning environment, pedagogy, among others. He was happy to know that the school prioritises skill-based education and also focuses on encouraging learning at the pace suitable for every learner to prepare them for future workplaces.