SINGAPORE - Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong said today that the government will invest a total of $2.5 billion over the next five years on continuing education and training (CET).

Course fees and absentee payroll for approved CET courses under the Skills Development Fund (SDF) will continue to be supported. Aside from this, the government will also increase the course fee tax relief for individuals from $3,500 to $5,500 with effect from Year of Assessment 2011.

The minister said this in response to a question posed in Parliament by Mdm Ho Geok Choo, Member of Parliament for West Coast GRC. She had asked how the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will address the issue of of employees continuing lifelong training for skills acquisition, given the phasing out of training subsidies under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR). 

SPUR is a two-year programme introduced in the 2008 Budget to help companies and workers manage the economic downturn and invest in skills for the recovery. It will end this December.

In lieu of this, the minister said more courses - in addition to the 300 currently available - are underway to reach out to more Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians (PMETs).

MOM will also be working with the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to continue to expand the national CET system.