Mr Cai Yinzhou asked the Minister for Education (a) whether employment outcome tracking under the Graduate Employment Survey framework covers part-time, mature-entry and SkillsFuture-funded students at the Institutes of Higher Learning on the same basis as full-time students; and (b) if not, what separate mechanisms exist to measure their employment outcomes.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Graduate Employment Surveys conducted by the various Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) cover graduates from all full-time Pre-Employment Training programmes, including adult learners.

The Ministry of Education monitors the outcomes for other funded continuing education and training (CET) programmes, including part-time programmes at the IHLs, via surveys and studies using administrative data.

For part-time full qualification programmes at the IHLs, given the diversity in adult learner profiles, we conduct econometric studies to understand the causal links between their participation in the programmes and employment outcomes. For instance, the Ministry of Trade and Industry published a study in 2024 that used administrative data to show that learners who completed Academic CET post-diploma programmes at the Polytechnics, which are generally conducted on a part-time basis, enjoyed a wage premium of up to 11%, when compared to a control group of individuals with similar profiles.

Wage and employment outcomes do not tell us the full picture. Reskilling may have helped workers, who were otherwise at risk of displacement, keep their jobs or take on new job roles within their existing organisations. To complement employment outcomes reporting, SkillsFuture Singapore also administers the Training Quality and Outcomes Measures survey for SkillsFuture funded programmes, which includes whether the training has helped learners to be more effective at their jobs, improved their work performance or allowed them to take on enhanced responsibilities at work.

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Mr Cai Yinzhou asked the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry tracks the proportion of graduates employed in roles aligned to their field of study; (b) what were the findings of the pilot conducted with polytechnics to survey graduates five years after graduation; (c) whether this pilot has been extended to autonomous universities and ITE as previously indicated; and (d) if not, why not.

Mr Desmond Lee: The Graduate Employment Survey (GES) tracks the proportion of graduates employed in jobs related to their field of study. From 2017 to 2024, this proportion has gradually increased and remained high, with about eight in 10 graduates in full-time permanent employment reporting they were in jobs related to their field of study.

The pilot conducted by the polytechnics in 2019 polled graduates from the polytechnic class of 2014. The results suggest that they were doing well in the labour market, with more than nine in 10 of those in the labour force being employed. Sixty-four percent of graduates in full-time permanent employment were in jobs related to their course of study. Among those in full-time permanent jobs unrelated to their original course of study, 14 percentage points had completed further studies in a different field. Furthermore, the median salaries of those in full-time permanent employment had risen from $2,100 in 2014 to $3,300 five years after graduation.

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Mr Cai Yinzhou asked the Minister for Education (a) what are the drop-out rates among learners in SkillsFuture Singapore-funded programmes by stage and course category; (b) how many appeals by learners to waive course fees or penalties upon non-completion or failure are received annually; (c) what proportion of such appeals succeeded; and (d) what is the employment or certification rate based on all enrolled learners rather than graduates alone.

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The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi) (for the Minister for Education): In 2025, more than 90% of learners completed their SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) courses. SSG does not process course fee waiver requests for learners who fail to complete their courses. Such waivers are subject to the contractual agreement between learners and training providers. In circumstances where learners face difficulties completing the course, SSG encourages training providers to work with learners to find a mutually acceptable solution, which could include course deferments, make-up lessons or reassessments.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) and SSG track the employment outcomes for placement programmes. For example, of the learners who enrolled in our place-and-train work-study programmes, more than nine in 10 graduates were employed six months after programme completion. These statistics exclude learners who did not complete the programme.

Mr Cai Yinzhou (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the response. A learner who fails or cannot complete a course through no fault of their own due to illness, family circumstances or a programme that was poorly matched to their needs currently has no clear published appeals process to help recover their course fees.

I note the Senior Parliamentary Secretary's response was that it should be a mutually made arrangement between the learner and the training provider. But given that some of these learners are mid-career workers who took a significant financial and personal risk to upskill and the published appeals process to recover their course fees is not clear and formalised, will the Ministry consider having clear appeal criteria and committing to a minimum review standard, so that deserving cases are not simply disheartened by the process of recovering?

Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi: I thank the Member for his supplementary question as well as his deep concern over individuals who may have difficulty completing the SSG courses. Indeed, even after committing to the course, some individuals do have challenges managing the training load, juggling work or study, health complications as well as unforeseen commitments. It remains the case that SSG continues to encourage our training providers to work with learners for mutually acceptable solution.

As mentioned earlier, once the payment has been made, any refunds will be subject to the training provider's refund policy, and successful refunds of the SkillsFuture credits will then be reinstated into the learner's wallet if it is indeed the case that it came from the SkillsFuture credits. That being said, we do our level best to encourage a mutually beneficial outcome, whether they be through course deferments, make up lessons or re-assessments and to the extent where that is possible, that is where we try to get the training providers to meet in the middle with the learner who wishes to upskill themselves.

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