“In a pharmaceutical, or any energy and chemicals company, you need to upgrade yourself and stay relevant. If you don’t, you could easily get left behind as your peers with the relevant certification and skills progress on,” shared Chemical Industries Employees’ Union (CIEU) Assistant General Secretary S Tamilvanan (pictured right).
Doing his part to stay relevant in a fast-changing energy and chemicals industry, the 55-year-old senior chemical technician was one of nine graduates from the inaugural Lab Instrumentation Certification course conducted by Singapore Polytechnic.
Comprising 10 one-day modules held over a period of three months, the bite-sized programme was co-developed by Singapore Polytechnic, CIEU and NTUC’s OPEC (Oil Petrochemical Energy and Chemical) Cluster of unions, NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), and approved by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry.
“Taking the course was an opportunity for me to upgrade myself, improve my knowledge and get new qualifications. Getting this certification is also an advantage to my career because it allows me to show the company that I am skilled in handling laboratory equipment,” added CIEU Executive Committee Member Engku Osman Adam (pictured left), 57, who was also one of the nine graduates.
Bite-sized Benefits
Besides the obvious benefits that come with picking up new skills and qualifications, both unionists also highlighted the modular nature of the programme as a big draw.
“I’ve actually operated the equipment [in the course of work] and I wanted to go more in-depth and get my skills certified. It is very attractive to be able to finish one module within a day, and there are only 10 modules in the programme,” said Vanan.
Working shift hours, Vanan sometimes had to take annual leave on days when classes clashed with his work schedule.
Osman, a senior research and development specialist, said that while the course content was new to him, the pace of the learning had been just nice.
“The theory sessions allowed me to learn more about the equipment, the process flow for using them and also how to do the calibration… The instructors were very patient and clear in their explanation and it made absorbing the new knowledge and understanding how to do the work easier. Working together with my classmates helped greatly too,” he shared.
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Labour Movement’s Support
Designed to help workers get the best of the programme, the structure of the course was developed with special consideration to accommodate the learning needs and work schedules, especially those working shift hours. The modular nature of the course also meant that participants could choose to attend the modules that were relevant for them.
For greater accessibility, union members who are Singaporean or Permanent Residents can also enjoy generous subsidies for their course fees.
“I think this initiative from our union representatives, together with e2i and the polytechnic is very good. It is a real bite-sized course. And if we can plan our time nicely, it can be completed very quickly,” said Vanan.
“The course has been developed to accommodate our work schedules with all the subsidies, it is also very affordable. On our end, we only need to make a small sacrifice in our time to benefit from this learning opportunity that can help us upgrade our skills and advance in our careers,” added Osman.
Following the success of the Lab Instrumentation Certification course, a second run of the course is currently underway. A similar programme offering certification for process technicians has also been launched and is open for registration. For more information, visit CIEU's website here.
