Good evening
ESU Executive Council Members
Ladies and Gentlemen and
Fellow Adult Educators and PAC members
1 A warm welcome to everyone.
2 It is wonderful to see so many passionate adult educators who have taken the time and made the effort to join us for the Professional Adult Educators’ Community’s maiden event. The Professional Adult Educators’ Community, or PAC for short, is a joint effort of two of the Labour Movement’s affiliated bodies – the Education Services Union and the Employment and Employability Institute (also known as e2i).
3 While the Education Services Union’s (or ESU) main focus is to represent and further the interests of working people in the private education industry; e2i, on the other hand, focuses on helping the workforce develop better skills through professional development to enable them for better jobs.
4 The marriage of the ESU and the e2i is not simply a marriage of convenience. The partnering of efforts is with the strategic intent of allowing the Labour Movement to do Better and do More for the population of over 11,000 – and rapidly growing – adult educators, professional trainers and lecturers in Singapore. This is a profession that stretches across the different sectors of the education industry, from early childhood care and education sector to private education and tertiary sectors, and even other industries such as manufacturing, shipbuilding etc where adult training is needed.
5 Since ESU’s formation in 2006, we noticed that while there are adult educators who are directly employed by education institutions, there are many more that have chosen to be self-employed or to freelance. This means that a large number of adult educators are vulnerable to economic uncertainties which translate to fluctuating job openings and compromised financial situation at times. It is therefore timely for the Labour Movement to form a dedicated community to represent and champion the collective working interests of this group of professionals.
6 The PAC is a community whose membership is offered on a complimentary basis to all adult educators, professional trainers and lecturers in Singapore. Apart from addressing challenges faced by adult educators in work, we recognise the urgency and importance for adult educators to continually upgrade to stay relevant to the dynamic training environment. The PAC aims to offer professional development support to enable adult educators to attain broad and deep skills. Simply put, the PAC will work with adult educators on upgrading opportunities to equip them with a set of generic competencies such as classroom management, curriculum development etc in addition to deepening their knowledge in their respective fields of training specialisations.
7 With the strong support of e2i, adult educators can look forward to more than course training support. Adult educators in the community can now look forward to funding support for short workshops or talks showcasing best-in-class practitioners and expert speakers.
8 In fact, I have good news to share with PAC members here today. ESU and e2i had been doing behind-the scenes work before today’s event to conclude an arrangement with the Singapore Training and Development Association (STADA). Under this arrangement with STADA, union members within the PAC can benefit from up to $250 funding support through the U-TAP when they sign up for the highly anticipated STADA-ASTD Asia-Pacific conference upcoming in November in Singapore. PAC members can look out for our email on how you can take advantage of this special arrangement.
9 It is in this spirit that the PAC hopes to work closely with other industry stakeholders such as the Institute of Adult Learning and Association of Private Schools and Colleges to develop a strong professional development proposition beneficial to all adult educators.
10 Having the experience of establishing the Labour Movement’s first professional community, a chapter for early childhood educators, two years ago, the ESU and the e2i are well-positioned to develop a vibrant community platform for adult educators to network with like-minded peers and industry stakeholders. The PAC hopes to provide adult educators with opportunities to forge working relationships, build their personal brand name, widen their outreach and grow their business base.
11 The PAC will build on the labour movement’s value proposition and add value to adult educators through a dedicated and holistic suite of work, live, learn and play benefits and privileges offered.
12 This evening’s programme – social media networking night - is an example of the kind of events and activities which PAC intends to roll out for adult educators. Social media is relevant to the working interest of adult educators who will increasingly have to tap on this communications medium for business development. It is also an area of professional knowledge and capability which educators have to quickly gain proficiency in. More importantly, the event is a coming together of like-minded people with a common passion for inspiring lifelong learning in the workers of today and tomorrow. To all adult educators in the audience, I once again warmly welcome you into the PAC and encourage you to be an active, involved member of the community.
13 On this note, I congratulate the Professional Adult Educators’ Community on its formation and wish everyone a great evening ahead!
