<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Home > Breaking News > Singapore > Story
</TR>
<TR>Oct 8, 2008
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Higher premium on worker skills <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Panel calls for Govt to highlight the growing need for skills beyond paper qualifications </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->TWO women had applied for a sales manager position. One had a diploma in hotel management while the other had risen through the ranks.
Orchard Hotel's general manager Melvin Lim picked the woman with no paper qualifications.
'Our business is about dealing with people, and she was less aloof and more friendly. She also showed a willingness to learn, so it would be possible for us to nurture her,' he told The Straits Times.
Increasingly, employers like Orchard Hotel are putting a higher premium on skills and attitudes that fit the job than academic qualifications. They can be an attitude of self-improvement, or an ability to handle complex tasks.
The growing emphasis on such capabilities is a trend the Government should highlight to people, said an industry-led panel overseeing efforts to train adults for jobs.
The 13-member Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund Advisory Council made the call at a media conference on Wednesday, urging the Government to send a 'strong and consistent message'.
Other recommendations it made in its annual review of the Workforce Development Agency's (WDA) work are: engage employers more often and invest more in building better adult training centres.
In line with the recommendation, the WDA launched a public education campaign yesterday, with advertisements lined up for this month to encourage workers to pick up a skill.
The Council, formed in 2001, oversees the budgetary matters and funding policies of the WDA's manpower development funds.
It includes representatives from the labour movement and self-help groups as well as various industries.
The chairman, Mr Bill Chang, hailed the Government's 10-year masterplan, announced this February, to boost continuing education and training.
Among others, the Government topped up the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund with another $800 milllion to expand training programmes. Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
</TR>
<TR>Oct 8, 2008
</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Higher premium on worker skills <!--10 min-->
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Panel calls for Govt to highlight the growing need for skills beyond paper qualifications </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Goh Chin Lian
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->TWO women had applied for a sales manager position. One had a diploma in hotel management while the other had risen through the ranks.
Orchard Hotel's general manager Melvin Lim picked the woman with no paper qualifications.
'Our business is about dealing with people, and she was less aloof and more friendly. She also showed a willingness to learn, so it would be possible for us to nurture her,' he told The Straits Times.
Increasingly, employers like Orchard Hotel are putting a higher premium on skills and attitudes that fit the job than academic qualifications. They can be an attitude of self-improvement, or an ability to handle complex tasks.
The growing emphasis on such capabilities is a trend the Government should highlight to people, said an industry-led panel overseeing efforts to train adults for jobs.
The 13-member Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund Advisory Council made the call at a media conference on Wednesday, urging the Government to send a 'strong and consistent message'.
Other recommendations it made in its annual review of the Workforce Development Agency's (WDA) work are: engage employers more often and invest more in building better adult training centres.
In line with the recommendation, the WDA launched a public education campaign yesterday, with advertisements lined up for this month to encourage workers to pick up a skill.
The Council, formed in 2001, oversees the budgetary matters and funding policies of the WDA's manpower development funds.
It includes representatives from the labour movement and self-help groups as well as various industries.
The chairman, Mr Bill Chang, hailed the Government's 10-year masterplan, announced this February, to boost continuing education and training.
Among others, the Government topped up the Lifelong Learning Endowment Fund with another $800 milllion to expand training programmes. Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
