By
Mohd Jailani Nathan
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By
Mohd Jailani Nathan
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BEST
Move, WISE Choice: The need to keep in pace with a volatile economic landscape and changes within the workplace and industry has made it imperative for working adults, who have missed out on their academic foundation to consider returning to classes and make up for the lost years. To this end, many have subscribed to and benefited from ITE’s BEST and WISE programmes. As the BEST Programme celebrates its 20th year, The Quality Workforce looks back at how the two programmes have evolved over the years and the great service they have done to a nation of workers.
It has been twenty long years since BEST was conceived to help working adults with little academic education, like Teng Juan, fulfil their upgrading dream and stay competitive in the workforce. BEST has since become a household acronym. The programme’s inception was for a practical reason - Singapore was aiming for a more educated and economy-ready workforce amid growing concerns about the number of Singaporean working adults, who might not be able to survive challenging times owing to a lack of academic foundation required for further education and training. It was the early 1980s and the country was anticipating the emergence of new industries towards the end of the decade. Then, more than 100,000 workers were found to have less than PSLE (Primary 6) qualifications while another 216,000 workers did not complete their GCE ‘O’ (Secondary 4) levels. The
Formative Years Recollecting the challenging, formative years of BEST, Dr Law Song Seng, Director & CEO, ITE and member of the former Basic Education Advisory Council [now known as Advisory Council on Continuing Education & Training (ACCET)], disclosed: “The challenge was to develop a programme, which was contextualised to Singaporean adults and effectively delivered through a network of centres supported by ITE, NTUC and industry. The curriculum development, textbook writing and training of teachers were done with the assistance of external expertise from Canada.” Many months of researches, proposals and recommendations later, BEST finally opened its doors to 4,500 working adults in January 1983. Piloted on two different modes - in-company, where classes were conducted within the companies’ premises, and centralised where participants attended classes in learning institutions and NTUC centres - BEST kicked off to a good start. Twenty years on, at end of Financial Year 2002, close to 260,000 adults have completed at least one BEST module. Another
Upgrading Avenue for Working Adults WISE is seen as an ‘extension’ of the BEST programme, as participants who passed BEST Module 4 can progress to WISE Module 1. Within ITE’s Continuing & Education Training system, those with WISE certifications can also advance the skills ladder by enrolling in Nitec courses. Since the launch of the programme in September 1987, the WISE programme had been attracting good response from adult learners. At the close of FY 2002, an estimated 105,000 have completed at least one WISE module. Both programmes have made it this far, thanks in no small part to the fervent support from both employers and unions. BEST and WISE certificates have been recognised as the basis for recruitment and selecting workers for further education. To date, 895 companies have conducted BEST and WISE classes for their employees. One such organisation is PSA Corporation Ltd. Its Vice-President, Human Resources, Mr Kelvin Lim, said: “We believe in developing every level of our employees. As far as possible, we make it convenient for employees to attend these programmes.” NTUC’s Deputy Director/Skills Development, Mrs Mui-Kok Kah Wei, who also sits in ACCET, said that the twin programmes will help NTUC towards achieving its vision. “The BEST and WISE programmes will continue to help workers who did not have the minimal literacy levels to further develop their skills and remain employable. This helps to enhance their work effectiveness and productivity. Our vision is to see that all of our workers achieve basic literacy in language and numeracy,” said Mrs Mui.
Early this year, BEST lessons went progressively online, making adult learners who have to skip classes due to work commitments, heave a huge sigh of relief. With the new e-learning initiative came flexibility and a self-paced study environment. Raved medical record clerk, Kan Fook Kong, 38: “The online format is easy to follow. And because we could learn things at our own pace, we could also adjust the duration of programme to suit us.” A
Commitment Towards Lifelong Learning
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He
used to speak in stilted, stumbling English. Never could he hold a proper
conversation without peppering his sentences with Singlish and dialects.
But things were looking up since technician Han Teng Juan, 42, took up
English Language classes under the Basic Education for Skills Training
(BEST) programme. “My English has improved. I can carry out conversations
with my non-Chinese colleagues and this helps to get work done faster.
By speaking to them in English, I’m also able to develop a stronger
working relationship with them and this has made my workplace a more enjoyable
one,” said a confident Teng Juan, who was presented with an award
two years ago for his excellent performance in the course. 
Moving
with the Times