Executive Secretary, ESU
Secretary, Education Cluster
Good Morning
Our Guest-of-Honour, Mr Heng Swee Keat, Minister for Education
Mr Eric Kwan, President of MDIS
Brother Edwin Lye, Chairman of NTUC Education Cluster
Brother Michael Tan, President of Education Services Union
Brothers and Sisters from the Education Sector
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
1 Thank you for joining us this morning to celebrate the nation’s 46th birthday together. Today’s celebration is jointly hosted by the NTUC Education Cluster and MDIS. Over 300 representatives and stakeholders from the education sector have gathered for the celebration. Amongst us, we have representatives from the unions, management, employees and the most important stakeholder of the industry, the students.
Uncertain economic conditions
2 2011 has been an interesting year for Singapore. Whilst we enjoy the benefits from the quick rebound of the Singapore economy from the recession in 2008/09, the global economic outlook has remained very uncertain. From the debt crisis in America and in Europe, to the earthquake in Japan, many uncertainties abound for us. Whilst in the past, economists work on economic cycles based on decades, we are now looking at shorter and shorter economic cycles in matter of years.
3 In the midst of these challenges, NTUC Secretary General Mr Lim Swee Say has outlined two main focuses of the Labour Movement in this year’s National Day Message. Firstly: to keep creating enough good jobs for ourselves and our children. And secondly, to help Singaporeans capture better job opportunities, earn better wages and pursue faster career advancement.
4 So how can the Education Industry make our contributions?
Creating enough good jobs for ourselves and our children
5 On creating good jobs for ourselves and our children, there is much that the Education industry contributes and can contribute in. The government continues to put great emphasis on the need for good infrastructure for the students to learn in and investments are constantly made to create good learning environments for our children. The number of teachers employed is being steadily increased. This allows us to work towards smaller classroom size and more conducive learning for our children. In addition, to support the functioning of the various education institutions, we need a group of dedicated support and administrative staff to provide the necessary support. All these create good jobs and career opportunities for ourselves and our children in this very meaningful industry where we provide the foundation in the education of the young and future of Singapore.
6 Private education institutions are another big sector in the education industry. Just two years ago, we were seeing a wide range of educational services being provided. However, with the large number of private education institutions, there was also a wide range in the quality of services provided. With the set-up of the Council of Private Schools and the EduTrust system, we have seen a clamp down on institutions that are not sufficiently equipped to provide quality education to their students. Although the number of institutions has fallen as a result, interestingly, the number of students has not. This is because with quality private education institutions as per recognized under the EduTrust system, we can better equipped to provide quality education to the students. People recognise this improvement in quality and are more confident of the quality education they are receiving. Hence more are now willing to invest in their upgrading with these quality institutions.
7 As a whole, with the continued growth in the education industry, I am confident that with quality education services and good stable learning environment provided by Singapore, we can make Singapore the Boston of the East. We can then provide quality education not only to Singaporeans but to anyone who is seeking for quality education in the region. This in turn will help to bring more jobs opportunities in the education industry to the shores of Singapore.
Help Singaporeans capture better job opportunities, earn better wages and pursue faster career advancement.
8 To help Singaporeans capture better job opportunities, earn better wages and pursue faster career advancement, individuals need to be empowered to pursue opportunities to their best capabilities. We can no longer expect the status quo to remain where we remain in the same job or same industry for the whole of our working lives.
9 With the economy and the market constantly evolving, what we have today may not sufficiently ensure our employability in the future. Nokia was one of the world’s biggest brands in the world. Today it is listed amongst 24/7 Wall Street’s annual list of 10 brands expected to go extinct. Nokia, once a market leader in mobile phones, is now lagging behind Samsung in terms of innovation and value and some expect Nokia to go extinct by 2012. However, we cannot allow our own employability to become extinct. We need to constantly review which areas are we best able to contribute in and what our marketable skills are. We then need to continue to strengthen on these marketable skills and improve our employability in the ever-changing economic climate.
10 Hence, upgrading is a key piece of the jigsaw we need to help Singaporeans capture better job opportunities. However, we also recognise that at times, our union members and their children may need more help and support in pursuing their upgrading. There is much that the Labour Movement can collaborate with the education institutions to encourage upgrading of our members. I am happy to share about the MOU signed between the Singapore Teachers Union (STU) and MDIS. This MOU will benefit STU’s 12,000 union members with training rebates and training grants. This benefit will also be extended to their children so that even more can benefit. The Education Services Union (ESU) and MDIS have also been collaborating to provide discounted professional upgrading courses for ESU members.
11 We hope to continue to work closely with MDIS and other management counterparts on such collaborations so that we help to encourage more of our members and their families to continue upgrading themselves.
Recognising the contributions of workers in the Education Industry
12 Today, as we celebrate National Day, I would also like to pay tribute to the hardworking people behind the scenes in the education industry. ESU will kickstart the first ever month-long campaign dedicated to thanking every person working in private education for their hard work and contributions in developing Singapore into a globally-recognised education hub staffed by world-class and passionate people.
13 We hope to inspire bosses, colleagues, students, parents and members of public to thank a particular private education services employee or educator for making a difference by posting a note for them. Look out for it on ESU Singapore Facebook page!
14 On this note, I would to thank Minister Heng for gracing the event in the midst of his busy schedule. I would also like to thank MDIS for hosting the celebrations. Thank you for all our brothers and sisters from the Education Cluster and all our guests for joining us this morning. Happy National Day to all!
15 Thank you.
