TRAINING THE TRAINERS
The initiative intends to upgrade the skills of about 11,000 adult educators, according to SSG. It also allows employers across sectors to tap a stronger training ecosystem to benefit employees.
“(Adult educators) are the linchpin in terms of enabling our industry to transform … The students are the adult learners. Adult learners are the ones who are working in the industry with all the changes that’s happening so rapidly,” said Dr Samson Tan, director of learning and professional development at the IAL.
“A competent, current adult educator with the right skills for delivering and enabling them to perform in the workplace is important and essential.”
Dr Tan told CNA that the TAEPP will shift the focus from one-off certifications for educators towards continuous professional development.
The TAEPP will also recruit industry practitioners to serve as registered educators. For a start, it is identifying suitable experts in the healthcare and legal sectors.
To remain on the SSG registry, educators will need to renew their status every two years through clocking at least 40 hours of continuing professional development and 80 hours of teaching.
NTUC LearningHub’s assistant chief executive and chief sector skills officer Tay Ee Learn said that the pathway allows training providers a broader and more sustainable access to trainers.
“(It can) help us to scale our supply of training to meet (current and future) demand,” he added.
Mr Tay noted that NTUC LearningHub also offers online platforms to help make training and skills upgrading more accessible to educators in fulfilling the required practice hours.
