In January this year, the Labour Movement embarked on a series of engagement sessions under the national SGfuture “A Learning People” initiative. Conducted by the Labour Movement’s various communities, the ‘SGfuture: Labour Movement Series’ aimed to garner ground-up, actionable ideas on how Singapore can become a nation of lifelong learners, which can then be actualised through projects put together by the participants themselves.
Through such projects, the Labour Movement hopes to build a shared vision where individuals take charge of their own learning at all stages of life. In addition, it hopes to encourage shared ownership where members of the community work together to turn ground-up ideas into reality and in the process, learn together as a community.
Over the past four months, about 500 participants were involved in eight engagement sessions organised by the various Labour Movement communities, namely Young NTUC, U Live, U Family, PME Unit and nEbO. Of which, about 400 volunteers have been recruited for nine ground-up projects that will mobilise various groups to come together to learn as a community. These projects were showcased at the series' townhall, which concluded the ‘SGfuture: Labour Movement Series’. (Refer to Annex A for list of ground-up initiatives)
For example, a group of young working adults who are passionate about helping youths better navigate career issues will work with industry professionals and subject matter experts to organise workshops, networking sessions and offer career counselling services. An online career mentoring portal is also being developed to provide a platform for youths to get connected with career mentors.
Recognising that learning extends beyond the workplace, several groups of youths will be providing opportunities for volunteers to organise and execute ‘do good’ projects together. Support networks for specific groups of people will also be set up to encourage information and knowledge sharing amongst like-minded individuals.
Project leads will recruit their own volunteers to execute these initiatives. The Labour Movement will be supporting them through seed funding, resource sharing and secretariat support. This include administrative, marketing and communications support.
Mr Desmond Choo, Executive Secretary of Young NTUC who spearheads the ‘SGfuture: Labour Movement Series’, said: “The engagement sessions have been a learning experience in itself for many of the participants. They broaden their own learning horizons as well as that of their peers. We hope that it deepens their thirst to learn for life, within and beyond the work sphere.”
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