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STATEMENT BY MR BOB TAN, CHAIRMAN/ITE BOARD OF GOVERNORS, AT NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER ITE BOARD VISIT TO KEPPEL FELS LIMITED ON WEDNESDAY 16 JANUARY 2008 AT 1200 HOURS

 

ITE INTRODUCES NEW FULL-TIME COURSE FOR MARINE INDUSTRY


Introduction

           Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen and members of the media. On behalf of the ITE delegation, I would like to thank the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd, Mr Choo Chiau Beng, and his team from Keppel FELS Limited, for hosting today’s visit.


2          Let me introduce the members of the Panel with me here:


3          Today, I am pleased to announce a new ITE full-time course for the marine industry - to build a steady long-term pool of local supervisors to support the industry’s robust growth.


Impetus for the New Course

Growth in Industry

4          From a sunset industry a couple of decades ago, the shipbuilding and repair business is now thriving. Singapore is now the world’s largest converter of floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSOs) and builder of offshore oil rigs, with 70 per cent global market share in both areas.


5          In 2006, the industry achieved a record output of over $12 billion - 38 per cent growth over 2005. Last year, EDB projected a strong double-digit growth, with order books full until 2010.


6          With its remarkable performance, total employment in the industry has shown an average increase of approximately 2,000 employees per year over the last 10 years. In 2006, total employment reached 102,500.


New Training Approach

7          ITE has a long history of training partnership with the industry through ASMI. Shipyards that are ITE’s Approved Training Centres also conduct Nitec programmes in Marine Technology and Fabrication Technology for working adults and fresh school leavers.


8          Despite this, the demand for skilled manpower has exceeded supply. According to ASMI’s manpower survey in Oct 2006, the projected demand for supervisors is 120 per year over the next 5 years. With the difficulty faced by the industry in recruiting sufficient Singaporeans to replace retiring supervisors, the industry will have a critical shortage of local supervisory staff in the next 10 years.


9          To plug the gap, ITE has worked closely with ASMI and key industry players such as Keppel FELs, Keppel Shipyard, Jurong Shipyard, Sembawang Shipyard, and Singapore Technologies Marine to come up with a broad-based Marine and Offshore Engineering course to attract a younger workforce for the industry.


What the Course Offers

10         The new full-time Higher Nitec course aims to attract GCE ‘O’ Level school leavers to embark on a promising career with bright prospects. It will train students to take up supervisory positions in the marine sector.


11         The two-year institutional training will equip students with broad-based skills and knowledge to give technical support to shipyard employees and supervise fabrication, repair and refurbishment activities of all types of marine vessels and offshore structures.


12         The new course will be offered in April 2008 at ITE College Central, with an initial intake of 64 students per year. Deserving students could be awarded scholarships by ASMI, Keppel Offshore & Marine, SembCorp Marine Ltd, Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd and the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) . Fifty six (56) scholarships worth up to a total of $544,000 will be offered annually.


Career Prospects and Progression Opportunities

13         Graduates of the course can look forward to excellent career prospects and progression opportunities as Assistant Supervisors, Trainee Supervisors, or Assistant Marine Supervisors.


14         They can also be considered for admission into the marine-related Diploma courses offered at the Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.


Conclusion

15         With this new course, we can look forward to building and equipping a new generation of well-trained supervisors to enhance the marine industry’s global competitiveness. For this, I would like to thank the Association of Singapore Marine Industries and all key industry stakeholders in the industry for their strong support and contributions in the development of the course.


16         Thank you. May I now invite questions from the media.