For Singaporean citizens, upskilling and reskilling have become extremely easy in recent years. The UTAP fund, alongside the SkillsFuture policy provides a great deal of financial support for professional courses. By utilizing the funds on the right course, you can gain valuable professional skills that would help you build a lustrous career. Let’s check out how you can make the most of your SkillsFuture funds.
How exactly does SkillsFuture help you upskill yourself?
The government launched SkillsFuture with the aim of promoting rapid skill development throughout the country. The ultimate goal is to help the economy flourish, which would be possible when the country has a highly skilled workforce. Under SkillsFuture, all citizens are provided with certain funds in the form of credits. You may use your Singapore SkillsFuture credit for a specific list of professional courses supported by the SkillsFuture program.
Courses covered by this funding program include major professional training programs across numerous industries from reputed institutes. Hence, SkillsFuture can certainly be of great help to students and professionals trying to develop better professional skills.
What’s the best way to spend your SkillsFuture credit?
While your SkillsFuture account can help you greatly in developing your career, it’s up to you to decide how to spend the credits. The better you utilize them, the more you’ll benefit from the SkillsFuture policy. Here are a few tips on how to go about it:
1. Choose the right institute
Obviously, you’d want to learn from the best institutes and universities. Find out the institutes that offer SkillsFuture-supported programs and shortlist the best ones. For instance, BELLS Academic Group has a wide range of professional courses for which you’re eligible to use your UTAP fund or SkillsFuture credit. A leading institute will not only provide you with quality training, but you can also complete several related courses at the same place without having to switch to different institutes.
2. Pick the right course
This is the most important part of utilizing your SkillsFuture credit properly. Spending the credits on the wrong program can be a huge loss, considering you could have spent them on a more useful course. Be sure about the job roles you’re planning to pursue in the future and develop your skills accordingly. Always remember to plan for the long run. Upskill yourself as per your career goals to utilize the funds well.
3. Reskilling for a new line of work
For individuals aged between 40 to 60 years in 2020, you are likely to receive an additional one-off SkillsFuture top-up of 500 dollars for mid-career support. In case you’re planning to explore a new line of work, this is a great opportunity. You may use this fund to reskill yourself for the type of work you plan to pursue next.
Check out the leading universities that cover courses supported by the Singapore SkillsFuture credit program and choose the right courses. Also, keep in mind that the one-off credit top-ups provided to those above 25 years and between 40 to 60 years in 2020 will be expiring in December 2022. You must use up these credits before they expire.
