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Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo Minister for Manpower to Parliament Question on Fresh Graduates from Private Universities

Skills, training and development Statistics and publications Employment practices

NOTICE PAPER NO. 1219 OF 2018 FOR THE SITTING ON 09 JULY 2018

QUESTION NO. 2002 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Murali Pillai

To ask the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry has plans to assist fresh graduates from private universities to gain employment in the workforce and to change the perception of their value-add to the market place amongst employers.

Answer

  1. To help graduates from private education institutions (PEIs) secure good employment outcomes, PEIs must equip graduates with industry-relevant skills and take responsibility for the employment outcomes of their graduates. This is why MOE regularly highlights to PEIs the importance of maintaining the relevance of their programmes to meet the changing needs of industry and potential employers, and why PEIs offering degree programmes are assessed via the EduTrust scheme on their graduate outcomes. MOE is also helping our students make better informed decisions in the career and learning journey. We have: (a) stepped up Education and Career Guidance (ECG) efforts in schools; and (b) made it mandatory for PEIs with degree programmes to conduct and publish the PEI Graduate Employment Survey, which is similar to the Graduate Employment Survey by the autonomous universities.
  2. Increasingly, employers look beyond education qualifications to identify candidates with good fit.  Together with our tripartite partners, MOM also promotes progressive hiring practices which encourage firms to assess candidates holistically, including through the use of competency assessment tools or work trials where appropriate. These practices are outlined in the Tripartite Standard on Recruitment Practices which was launched in November last year. Employers which voluntarily sign up to the Standard commit to adopt fair, merit-based and inclusive recruitment practices. As of June this year, more than 560 employers, accounting for about 340,000 workers, have adopted this Standard.