THERE are many organisations that encourage professional women to rejoin the workforce. However, I have had difficulty getting help after calling many government-related organisations and I now write to confirm that my MP is the only one who can help me.

I wanted to get retraining to be a certified trainer on a Singapore Training and Development Association course supported by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA). To encourage employers to send staff on this course, there is a Skills Development Fund (SDF) subsidy. An employee can even approach the Chinese Development Assistance Council to be his surrogate employer to attend the course and get a subsidy if necessary. So help is available.

However, a professional woman who stopped work due to family commitments and now wants retraining to rejoin the workforce, is not entitled to SDF since this is only for organisations.

After I explained my situation to the WDA officer, she said this was not under WDA jurisdiction and suggested I contact the community development Council (CDC) for help.

I did and the CDC officer quickly concluded and directed me to call his colleague for career consultancy and financial assistance without finding out my situation and needs. After much clarification, the final advice from the CDC was to see my MP who is the best person to help me. In addition, I might contact a career consultant, but unfortunately, in his haste, the officer gave me the wrong number.

My query is: Why is it so difficult for a non-employee who has no income to get a subsidy for the same course which any employee can get, even though it may not be related to his current job? Why is there such a discrepancy? In this case, there is a greater obstacle for non-employees to get back into the workforce.

I suppose there are many housewives like me who face similar problems getting back into the workforce. If so, MPs will be very busy dealing with these matters if officers cannot handle cases like mine.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jun 2, 2008

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