By Kor Kian Beng

IN FOUR years, working adults can go to one of two campuses and pick from a long list of courses to train for jobs in similar industries.

For instance, a waiter keen on a job in tourism need not criss-cross the island to find the right training to be say, a hotel concierge or a croupier.

Training for such jobs in the hospitality sector will come under one roof when two national campuses for adult training and learning are ready in 2013.

Clustering training along such sector themes will make it easier and more efficient for workers and employers to get what they want at one place, unlike the present situation, where adult training is scattered at 48 individual Continuing Education and Training (CET) centres across Singapore.

The set-up of these two national institutions was outlined by Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong to reporters yesterday after he visited the Institute of Adult Learning, a CET centre.

He was elaborating on an announcement by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday when he underlined the importance for workers to re-skill as the economy transforms.

Mr Gan spelt out the benefits for workers, employers and trainers arising from the integrated services to be provided by the two campuses.

For workers, they will provide the latest on job and training opportunities, and offer career consultants who can give advice. Workers can also find out about all the CET courses, including those of polytechnics and ITEs.

Employers can work out customised training with the campuses and recruit workers.

Training providers can learn from one another. The campuses will also be involved in the professional development of adult educators.

In all, the two campuses will provide 150,000 training places yearly.

Like the 48 centres, these campuses are part of the CET masterplan introduced last year to prepare Singapore workers for changing demands in the labour market.

Both campuses will be next to an MRT station, with one in the eastern part of the island, and the other in the west.

The East campus will be in Paya Lebar Central, next to the Singapore Post Centre.

The West campus will be in Jurong Lake District, next to the IMM shopping mall.

Mr Gan said the campuses will not replace the 48 centres 'because they cater to different demands'.

But he added: 'There is room for us to bring some of them together within the campus to provide integrated CET training within the related fields.'

Said the chief executive of the Manpower Ministry's Workforce Development Agency, Mr Chan Heng Kee: 'We hope the CET campuses will be to working adults what our ITE, polytechnics and universities are to our young.'

Giving an update on Spur, Mr Gan said around 189,000 workers and 2,800 companies have committed themselves to the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience since its launch last December.

Workers, employers and unionists told The Straits Times yesterday that they look forward to the two new campuses.

Mr Koh Juan Kiat, executive director of Singapore National Employers Federation, said their locations will make it easier for bosses to send workers for training.

Mr Renny Yeo, president of Singapore Manufacturers' Federation, suggested having childcare centres at the campus for working mothers and networking corners for those who are out of work.

NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i), a one-stop centre for training and job-matching, will move from its Bukit Merah premises to the campuses, said its chairman Ong Ye Kung.

Mr Choo Lip Wei, 44, retrenched last December as a director at a plastics firm, hopes to pick up new courses at the campus to add to his new skills as a trainer.

At a separate event yesterday, labour chief Lim Swee Say said union leaders are keenly waiting for the campuses to open.

He wants them to provide training that matches employers' needs, to help minimise structural unemployment.

Said Mr Lim: 'We are confident enough to say that as long as we remain competitive, we should be able to create enough jobs for Singaporeans. But the key priority is: how do we do a better matching of job supply and skills supply.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.