The public transport industry will need 11,100 bus captains over the next five years – a 13 per cent increase from the 9,800 today.
In a speech at the Singapore Bus Academy (SGBA) on 24 July 2017, Second Minister for Manpower Josephine Teo said that the demand for bus captains will continue as it is still uncertain when driverless buses will become an industry norm.
“We do not know how quickly driverless buses will start plying on roads. In any case, there is some control because now the LTA [Land Transport Authority] owns all the buses, so it’s up to them to some extent,” she said.
Second Minister Teo, who is also the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, was speaking at the Singapore Bus Academy’s graduation ceremony for 20 bus captains from the 36th intake at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability.
Milestone for Academy
Since the set up of SGBA in October 2016, more than 1000 bus captains have gone through the five-day Enhanced Vocational Licence Training Programme (EVLTP) which covers six modules from rules and regulations to safe driving techniques.
In-house trainers from the National Transport Workers’ Union (NTWU), SBS Transit and SMRT conduct the EVLTP. All bus captains receive additional in-house training from their respective companies after graduating from SGBA.
The academy was set up by tripartite partners to provide centralised training and uplift the competency standards of bus industry workers.
In a Facebook post, NTWU Executive Secretary Melvin Yong said: “SGBA is a testament to the strength and effectiveness of sectoral tripartism. The NTWU, LTA and the public transport operators came together to make this centralised training for bus professionals possible, and I am hopeful that this strong partnership will continue. NTWU will continue to give our full support to SGBA as we embark on the next lap.
“With driverless technology being a potential disruptor to existing driving jobs in years to come, we need to plan today to prepare our bus workers to be future-ready. Beyond training new aspiring bus professionals for today’s jobs, the union looks forward to an evolving SGBA with a focus on in-service training, to help existing bus professionals upskill gradually for tomorrow’s jobs.”
The Next Step
SGBA and NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), the academy’s programme manager, said that they would continue to work with industry partners to further develop job facilitation, skills upgrading and career progression for Singaporeans in the bus industry.
e2i CEO Gilbert Tan said: “The academy today has been training mainly bus captains. We are looking at how we can expand training programmes in this academy. For instance, the next programme could be for service controllers, technicians or even include other forms of driving of buses for that matter.
“Driverless technology will come about in the industry and we need to see whether they will be remotely controlled, or autonomous. The technology is still at the development stage, so e2i will look into this to see how we can help ease the impact of this technology and make it a winning situation for all parties.”
