Letters | Like Singapore, Hong Kong must clearly map how it will future-proof talent
- Readers discuss the need to train Hong Kong’s workforce as the digital economy gathers steam, the importance of applied science education, and a change in the qualification required to teach English at local schools
Singapore launched SkillsFuture as a national movement almost a decade ago. The initiative seeks to build a culture of lifelong learning, so that Singaporeans can realise their fullest potential irrespective of their starting points. This is not just rhetoric. The government ensures that talent development is a cornerstone of every policy and new initiative.
For example, skills development is one of the pillars of industry transformation maps for strategic sectors, alongside productivity enhancement, innovation in products and services, and expansion to international markets. There is even an industry transformation map for training and adult education, in recognition of the important role this plays in raising business capabilities.
Singapore’s national artificial intelligence strategy, launched in 2019 and updated last December, is committed to developing a pool of 15,000 AI practitioners, among other things. Sector-specific AI training programmes to reskill and upskill workers will be run as part of industry transformation.
“Equipping our workers for life” is one of the seven themes of Singapore’s latest budget, released about two weeks before Hong Kong’s in February.
In the last policy address, the Hong Kong chief executive announced that the Employees Retraining Board would review its scope to better meet the manpower training and economic development needs of Hong Kong, and promote continuous learning and skills development for all. There will also be a new Digital Policy Office to formulate policies on digital government, data governance and information technology.
I look forward to the announcement of a holistic manpower development blueprint for Hong Kong, including reskilling programmes for the civil service to ensure it can move ahead with the digital economy.
Rachel Chan, North Point
Focus on applied sciences may turn city’s fortunes around
The scheme seems to be skewed towards high finance and big money which Hong Kong is famous for. But what about the broader STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and maths) fields: applied maths, statistics, environmental sciences, marine biology, biotechnology, biochemistry, agri-technology and the like?
The new applied sciences curriculum at Hong Kong Metropolitan University is presumably designed to attract students to pursue a completely different direction. It is very satisfying to see collective wisdom and social consciousness pointing towards some kind of balance. Perhaps applied sciences education is what we need to move this city forward.
Philip S.K. Leung, Pok Fu Lam
Consider TOEFL for assessing teachers’ English
On the other hand, I wish to remind the Education Bureau that the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is an internationally recognised language proficiency test, which is about the same length as IELTS but slightly less costly. With its speaking and writing sections assessed collaboratively by human and AI, in terms of test result validity, TOEFL might be superior to IELTS which is solely graded by humans.
I urge the bureau to consider allowing aspiring teachers to provide TOEFL scores as evidence for their English language proficiency in line with the policies of many tertiary institutions around the world.
Simon Wang, Kowloon Tong