Welcome Speech by Ms Low Khah Gek, CEO/ITE, at the Singapore International Technical & Professional Education and Training Conference 2022

Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education

Ms Theresa Schopper, Minister for Education, Youth and Sports, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Mr Andreas Schleicher, Director of Directorate for Education and Skills & Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Mr Anthony Mackay, Board Co-Chair and Chief Executive Officer, National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), United States of America

Mr Stefan Praschl, Board Member and Chairman of Competition Committee, Worldskills International

Mr Lai Chung Han and Ms Lim Wang Yong, Permanent Secretaries, Ministry of Education

Mr Andrew Chong, Chairman of ITE

Excellencies, Eminent Speakers, Panel Facilitators

Guests and Delegates from Singapore and Overseas (joining us physically or online)

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

Welcome to the Singapore International TPET Conference 2022. This Conference has attracted a total of 700 participants - 330 physical participants and 370 online participants. Among the participants are 70 international participants from 15 countries.

Four Key Questions

Around the world and in Singapore, there is a high level of interest and desire among policy makers, thought leaders, industry leaders and practitioners of technical , vocational and professional training to discuss and explore new perspectives, ideas and strategies for skills training and employment preparation.

Every training and education system is searching for best strategies and best practices. These are the likely top four concerns and questions:

1. What are the key changes and new opportunities in a post-pandemic era for the economy, jobs and skills?

2. Given the increasingly faster pace of change of industries, jobs and skills demand, what are the strategies to ensure skills currency and employability resilience for individuals over the 40+ years of their working lives?

3. How do training and education institutions stay agile and responsive to the needs of employers, in-service employees and students who will be new entrants to the workforce?

4. As e-learning, e-tutoring, e-communities, e-assessment and other remote and virtual opportunities abound, are there new possibilities to be harnessed?      

Perspectives of Different Systems and Stakeholders

These four questions form the basis for the theme of this international TPET Conference: Pivoting TPET for a Sustainable Future: Potential, Possibilities and Partnerships. I hope the conference will yield new understandings, insights, ideas and collaboration opportunities for all participants. There are three key segments:

Plenary 1 (1^st Sub-theme): Resetting and Recreating for Sustainable TPET

We look forward to hearing from the three keynote speakers, Andreas Schleicher, Theresa Schopper and Anthony Mackay from OECD, Germany and NCEE respectively. They will present macro-level systems perspectives, comparative information as well as explore the issues of responding to fast-changing skills demands and future-proofing the workforce.

Plenary II (2^nd Sub-theme): From ‘Learning to Work’ to ‘Working to Learn’

There is increasing recognition that skills learning and acquisition are even more effective when conducted at the workplace and in the context of actual work. We will learn from the speakers of various countries: Remy  Hubschi  on the Swiss system; Simon Booker on Hongkong’s VPET system; Catherine Ng on Australia’s TAFE system and Musdalifa Abdullah on Singapore’s workplace learning.

Plenary III (3^rd Sub-theme): Accelerating Digitalisation and Digital Learning

This sub-theme will explore the competencies needed for the digital economy and workplace,  building a career in the tech industry and leveraging education technologies to deliver digital learning & assessment. We will hear the research-based perspectives from Monika Hackel, policy-based perspectives from Kiren Kumar and practitioner-based perspectives from Ang Kiam Wee and Peter Lam.

Conclusion

I wish every guest and participant who are with us physically or online a fulfilling and rewarding two days of learning, sharing, discussion, discovery and inspiration. To our overseas speakers and delegates, I wish you an enjoyable and enriching stay in Singapore!