Fact Sheet: SkillsFuture@NS Initiatives and Improvements to the Enhanced Career and Education Fair 14 Aug 2019 Background SkillsFuture@NS is part of the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF), the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and Ministry of Home Affairs' (MHA's) continuing efforts to recognise our Full-time National Servicemen's (NSFs') contributions to defence. MINDEF, the SAF and MHA seek to provide support for skills upgrading, career discovery and workforce readiness for NSFs as they transit to studies or work after they complete their full-time NS. This builds on existing efforts such as the accreditation of NS skills and competencies under the Workforce Skills Qualifications framework, Electronic Pre-Release Employment Programme (E-PREP) credits offered to NSFs for online courses, and the Enhanced Career and Education Fair for NSFs who are about to complete their full-time NS. At the 2019 Committee of Supply Debate, MINDEF and the SAF introduced a suite of SkillsFuture@NS initiatives to support our NSFs' lifelong learning journey. MINDEF, the SAF and MHA are working with public and private sector partners to better enhance the NSFs' transition after their Operationally Ready Date (ORD). This includes: (i) extending NSFs' E-PREP credits of $350 from 200 to 3,300 selected courses, to help NSFs refresh, update or acquire new skills; (ii) working with Institutes of Higher Learning on modular courses for E-PREP that will grant NSFs credit exemptions for higher education programmes 1 after their ORD; and (iii) providing a career orientation experience for NSFs near their ORD through the conduct of customised SkillsFuture Advice workshops. Improvements to the Enhanced Career and Education Fair The Enhanced Career and Education Fair (ECEF), held quarterly for NSFs who are in their last three to six months of National Service (NS), provides resources and information on future career and education opportunities and pathways. Introduced in 2015, the ECEF has expanded to include approximately 57 exhibitors from key economic sectors and 15 Institutes of Higher Learning. Under SkillsFuture@NS, improvements to the ECEF included: a. Introduction of SkillsFuture Advice Workshops. In partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore, People's Association, and Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), the hour-long SkillsFuture Advice workshops guide NSF participants to reflect on the skills and competencies they have acquired throughout their NS journey, learn more about making choices post-NS, and find out more about the available government resources to help them. The SkillsFuture Advice workshops will be conducted for all NSFs attending the ECEF henceforth. Outline of SkillsFuture Advice Workshop for NSFs Introduction Activities to share the objectives of the workshop Career Success Activities to explore concepts of Growth Mindset and Grit Factors Attitude Moving on from Reflection about the NS journey and how it translates to the NSF Chapter the building of Growth Mindset and Grit attitude Making Choices A 3-step framework towards making choices for the future Sharing about work and study resources such as E-PREP Exploring Credits, Work-Study programmes, Career Starter Pack, Resources MySkillsFuture portal Closing Exploration of the Career and Education Fair b. Introduction of "Career Starter Pack for NSFs". In collaboration with Workforce Singapore (WSG), a digital NS version of the Career Starter Pack for all NSFs, under WSG's Career Starter Programme, was launched today. The one-stop online resource guide aims to equip post-ORD entrants to the workforce with necessary tools and resources for their job search, by providing targeted support for NSFs seeking employment and introducing MyCareersFuture.sg as the platform to look for jobs based on their skill sets. Post-ORD NSFs can also attend the Career Booster Workshops to reinforce their job search strategies and skills, or seek professional support via 1-to-1 career coaching from WSG's Careers Connect. 2 c. Partnership with Economic Agencies for Targeted Zones at ECEF. To deliver a more focused and targeted experience, based on participating NSFs' education and skills backgrounds, as well as industry manpower needs, this year's ECEF introduced thematic zones for priority economic sectors such as Infocomm Technology and Logistics. This is an expansion of the Engineering Zone, which was introduced in 2017 in collaboration with the Economic Development Board to hiring more engineers to meet future industry needs. Over the years, the ECEF has also expanded partnerships with agencies such as Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Tourism Board to tap on a wider pool of employers from their network of companies across different industries and sectors, so that NSFs can find a career that is of relevance and interest to them. Updates on Other SkillsFuture@NS Initiatives E-PREP Credits. NSFs can now use their E-PREP training credits for 3,300 courses from Udemy [1], an increase from 200 online courses previously offered. In addition, NSFs are able to subscribe to a one-year access to Udemy's E-PREP online courses. NSFs can also continue to sign up for online courses from other E-PREP course providers [2]. In addition, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) have offered 26 credit- bearing courses, which allow NSFs to obtain course and/or credit exemption should they further their studies at SUSS or TP. MINDEF, the SAF and MHA will continue to expand the E-PREP course directory with new course offerings, including SkillsFuture Series courses, to be included by end-2019. Participating Vendors at the Enhanced Career and Education Fair Career Exhibition. S/N Employers Industry 1 Ernst & Young Singapore Accountancy 2 GE Aviation Engine Services Singapore Aerospace 3 ST Engineering Aerospace 4 Scoot Air Transport 5 Singapore Airlines 6 Pepperl+Fuchs Asia Engineering Services 3 S/N Employers Industry 7 ST Microelectronics 8 Shell Eastern Petroleum Energy, Power and Chemicals 9 ENGIE Services Singapore Environment Services 10 ABR Holdings Food Services 11 RE&S 12 NTUC Health Co-operative Healthcare 13 Yishun Health 14 The Fullerton Hotels and Resorts 15 Marriott International 16 The Ritz-Carlton 17 The St. Regis Singapore 18 The Westin Singapore Hotel and Accommodation Services 19 Pan Pacific Hotels Group 20 Novotel Singapore on Stevens 21 Resorts World Sentosa 22 Singapore Hotel Association 23 CrimsonLogic 24 IBM Infocomm Technology 25 Zenith Infotech (S) 26 ALLIED CONTAINER SERVICES 27 GKE Group of Companies 28 Haulio 29 Kim Soon Lee 30 SG SAGAWA AMEROID Logistics 31 SH Cogent Logistics 32 Sin Chew Woodpaq 33 Sin Hiap Hoe Transport 34 YCH Group 35 Yusen Logistics (Singapore) 4 S/N Employers Industry 36 Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore Marine and Offshore 37 Sembcorp Marine 38 Comfort DelGro Corporation Public Transport 39 SMRT 40 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Public Service 41 Workforce Singapore 42 UNIQLO Singapore Retail 43 Legend Logistics (Asia) 44 Penanshin Shipping Sea Transport 45 PSA Singapore 46 Spiral Marine 47 AETOS 48 Acestes 49 Certis Group 50 Singapore Customs 51 Immigration and Checkpoints Authority 52 Singapore Civil Defence Force Security 53 Singapore Police Force 54 Singapore Army 55 SAF C4I 56 Republic of Singapore Air Force 57 Republic of Singapore Navy Education Exhibition. S/N Institutes of Higher Learning Clustering 1 SkillsFuture Singapore 2 SkillsFuture Singapore (CPE) Work-Study Programmes 3 Temasek Polytechnic 4 Singapore Polytechnic 5 S/N Institutes of Higher Learning Clustering 5 Republic Polytechnic 6 Ngee Ann Polytechnic 7 Nanyang Polytechnic 8 Institute of Technical Education 9 Bright Spark Scholarship 10 IMDA 11 National University of Singapore 12 Singapore Management University 13 Singapore University of Social Sciences Education Partners 14 Nanyang Technological University 15 e-PREP [1] Udemy is an online course provider providing a wide range of online courses across ranging from business management to artificial intelligence to data analytics. [2] These include Institutes of Higher Learning such as NTU, NYP, and SP. News Release: - More Support to Help Full-Time National Servicemen Transit to Work or Studies (MINDEF_20190814001.pdf) 6 .