Better salaries for workers if they are given chance to attend TVET training, says Kula

PUTRAJAYA: Workers who get the chance to attend Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) classes after work can see a potential in salary increase, says M. Kulasegaran. 

The Human Resources Minister said that if classes were made available after 5.30pm, workers could see an increase in income by 10-20%.

He said when workers are upskilled and reskilled, they are able to push up their salaries.  

“If every worker in the country is skilled, even janitors can command a good income, too.

“If Singapore can do it, there’s no reason why we can't do so,”  he said after the National Labour Advisory Council Meeting near here on Monday (May 27). 

Kulasegaran said measures are being looked into to facilitate training for workers, especially those whose employers may be hesitant to send them for courses. 

He added that some employers have legitimate fears that their workers would leave for other jobs after they undergoing training. 

“We have to come up with a better plan where employees have the right to go for training,” he said. 

He said one suggestion is that employers and their staff sign an agreement where the workers are bonded for a period of time after training. 

“For the employers, it is very saddening to send workers for training and they just leave. It will affect their business, so they must be able to ‘tie their staff'. 

“If the government can ‘tie up’ someone who furthers studies, there is no reason for a worker who goes for training to be ‘tied up’ (to employers) for a short period,” he said. 

Kulasegaran had previously suggested that TVET institutions should operate from 5.30pm to 11pm instead of just the normal working hours of 8am to 5pm.