Tapping talent: Singapore strategy
Ninety Singaporean students have been offered scholarships which were aimed at drawing young talents to various sectors of the economy. Called the Singapore-Industry scholarship, 90 awards have been given as part of the government’s plan to build a strong core of talent in the private sector. As many as 27 private sector companies and statutory board partnered with the government.
The government’s help to nurture local talent is highly commendable. Under the scholarship, a student will be able to pay for his undergraduate studies at local universities and the Singapore Institute of technology. The student, of course, will have to sign a four-year bond with private sector companies upon graduation.
The Education ministry and the Economic Development Board have identified various industries. One selection criterion is the firm has to have good human resource practice.
The idea is to tap and nurture local talent that will put the Republic in a better position to anchor a key range of industries. The co-funding scholarships will help industries develop bright Singaporeans.
With no other resources at its disposal, the city-state has been making incredible progress due to its human capital. And the latest government initiative makes it clear in no uncertain terms that it is ready to go to any extent to boost talent to match global excellence.
With the strong core of Singaporean talent in place, the education minister said that the nation could embark on a “Singapore plus plus” strategy. “The first plus is to complement our core with a right mix of global talent, to enable us to build the best multi-disciplinary team,” he said.
“The second plus is to ensure that Singaporeans have global cultural literacy to interact with people across cultures.”
More than 1,000 students applied for these 90 scholarships.
