I spoke during the PMO's Committee of Supply yesterday on how the civil service needs to lead the way in recognizing non-academic and other skills in hiring and promotion in the civil service if we want society to similarly recognize every Singapore for his or her talent that may not be just good grades in an exams. Here is the speech;
PMO Committee of Supply
Speech by Mr Inderjit Singh
Hiring and Promotion in the Civil Service (ASPIRE)
1. It is encouraging that the government is willing to expand the old model of using academic excellence as hiring benchmarks in the civil service and adopt unique and non-academic skills as well.
2. It is encouraging that the Government is willing to expand the old model of using academic excellence as hiring benchmarks in the Civil Service and adopt unique and non-academic skills as well.
3. I would like to share the stories of two young men who have faced many challenges because of the previous policies of over-emphasising on academic qualifications.
4. Earlier this year, a young Singaporean, with an ITE higher Nitec, contacted me. He served his National Service with great dignity and honour, performed very well and grew to love the uniformed services and aspired to build a career in it. After completing his National Service, and at great expense to his family, he went for further studies in Australia to obtain a degree. Upon his return, he applied to serve as a regular officer, first in the SAF, and when he was not successful, and then as part of the Home Team. His applications were rejected by MINDEF and the Ministry of Home Affairs, citing his unrecognised academic qualifications.
5. He became disillusioned with the system. He was enthusiastic about the National Day Rally speech that the Prime Minister gave, outlining his vision of better recognising and rewarding those who have pursued a non-traditional education route. He hoped that it would be an opportunity for him to finally realise his dream of being a regular officer in the uniformed services. You can imagine his disappointment after the multiple rejections.
6. Mr Calvin Soh rose to be the Vice-Chairman and Regional Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Asia, a top advertising and public relations company, and was the first Singaporean creative director of a top advertising firm in New York, with only four “O” Levels results.
7. Since returning to Singapore, Calvin has been actively involved in building a creative culture among our youth and worked on various projects, including Time Traveller, an app that allows users to share their stories about various landmarks and places in Singapore.
8. Recently, he was invited by a local university to speak to students. He was then asked to submit his CV. Upon realising that his highest qualification was an “O” level certificate, the invitation was rescinded. Calvin also shared with me that there are many Singaporean creative directors across Asia, particularly in China, because of the over emphasis on academic qualifications, their collective knowledge and talent is not readily recognised yet in Singapore.
9. I hope that with the changes brought about by the creation of ASPIRE, the stories I shared will not be repeated.
10. As we encourage companies to employ and reward those with specific skills, the state is the largest employer, through the Civil Service and uniformed services, I hope that the Government will lead the way. As the Deputy Prime Minister mentioned during his Budget speech, we must endeavour to make Singapore a meritocracy of skills and not a hierarchy of grades earned at a young age. The Civil Service can certainly do more to promote the employment and career progression of non-graduates. Look at UniSIM graduates. I hear that not many of them get employed by the Civil Service, which means that its qualifications are not much recognised in the Civil Service. Perhaps the Government could elaborate how many UniSIM graduates it hires, to show us that they are indeed recognised.
Inderjit Singh
*Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/kbinderjit/posts/1051707134856019?fref=nf