Appointment of Chief Executive Officers for Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore

1. As announced in January this year, two new statutory boards – SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) under the Ministry of Education, and Workforce Singapore (WSG) under the Ministry of Manpower – will be established to drive and coordinate implementation of the national SkillsFuture initiative, as well as ensure competitiveness and quality jobs for Singaporeans over the long-term. The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) will be reconstituted into WSG, while the Council for Private Education (CPE) will be subsumed under SSG. 
2. The SSG Agency Bill 2016 and WDA Agency (Amendment) Bill 2016 were introduced in Parliament on 11 July 2016 for First Reading by the Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Mr Ong Ye Kung and the Minister of State, Ministry of Manpower Mr Teo Ser Luck respectively. If Parliament passes the Bills and the President subsequently gives his assent, SSG and WSG are expected to be established in the fourth quarter of 2016.
3. Mr Ng Cher Pong (黄子鹏), who is currently Chief Executive Officer of WDA, will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer of SSG (精深技能发展局 or 精深局 in short) upon its establishment. 
4. Concurrent with Mr Ng’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer of SSG, he will also be appointed Deputy Secretary (SkillsFuture) at MOE.
5. Mr Tan Choon Shian (陈俊祥), currently Principal and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Polytechnic (SP), will assume the role of Chief Executive Officer of WSG upon its establishment. Mr Tan will be appointed Chief Executive Officer (Designate) of WSG with effect from 1 August 2016 to oversee preparations for the establishment of WSG.
6. Mr Ng was appointed Chief Executive Officer of WDA on 1 November 2013. Prior to his appointment at WDA, Mr Ng was Deputy Secretary (Services) and Deputy Secretary (Policy) in 2009 and 2010 respectively at MOE. Mr Ng has also served in various capacities in the Ministry of National Development, Urban Redevelopment Authority, former Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Ministry of Manpower, and Ministry of Defence. 
7. Under Mr Ng’s leadership, WDA’s role has expanded to become the lead agency in championing the development of industry-based skills, and strengthening the linkages between education, training and the economy. He also led WDA in increasing the application of technology in lifelong learning, as well as the implementation of several key SkillsFuture initiatives. These include the development of Singapore Skills Framework (SSF), implementation of SkillsFuture Earn and Learn (ELP) for fresh Polytechnic and ITE graduates, as well as provision of Education and Career Guidance to help individuals make better career decisions. 
8. Prior to his appointment as Principal and CEO of SP on 1 January 2013, Mr Tan was Deputy Managing Director of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). He had a career spanning nearly 20 years with the EDB, holding various Director-level positions and subsequently key appointments including Deputy Managing Director (Global Operations) from 2009 to 2012, and Assistant Managing Director (Asia Pacific) from 2007 to 2008.
9. Under Mr Tan’s leadership, SP received the Public Service Best Practice Award for Organisation Development in 2014. Mr Tan helped strengthen engagement work with the industry to enhance learning outcomes of SP students. In addition, in collaboration with WDA, he led SP to take on a bigger role in the Government’s Continuing Education Training (CET) efforts to train and upgrade adult learners. 
10. Mr Tan has been a WDA board member since September 2013.