Date Published: 01 Feb 2010
- Opportunities for professionals in Singapore’s water sector to enhance their capabilities are set to increase with the alignment of industry courses to the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) System.
- National water agency PUB, Singapore Water Association (SWA) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) are collaborating to raise the water industry’s competency standards, while benchmarking it against best international practices.
- WDA is working with PUB to align the existing Water Management Certification Programme to the Process WSQ framework, which maps out the skills needed to provide innovative engineering services in Process sectors, such as the water industry. The framework has been endorsed by the Process Manpower Skills and Training Council (MSTC). The council comprises senior management representatives from industry and government agencies that provide feedback and advice to WDA on industry capabilities, manpower development, as well as relevant skills and training needs for different sectors.
- The Water Management Certification Programme is a series of training programmes that focus on technical skills and capabilities to manage the various aspects of the water cycle, from collection of water to the production, distribution and its reclamation into NEWater. The programme is designed to cater specifically to different job levels including the operator, technician, supervisor and engineer levels. Alignment with the Process WSQ framework will add further training value to the Water Management Certification Programme, raising the skills and competency levels of water professionals, while helping them gain a competitive edge in overseas projects.
- The first module under Water Management Certification Programme to be aligned is “WSQ Certified Used Water Treatment Operator”, which will start in March 2010. It is estimated that there will be 40 local and international water industry participants who will attend this inaugural run. Following that, the water treatment module will be developed and rolled out in mid 2010. The subsequent water modules will be developed according to industry needs.
- Besides aligning to the Process WSQ framework, the programme has been given approval for affiliation with the United States’ Association of Boards of Certifications (ABC) standards, which are internationally recognised by more than 40 states in the US and nine Canadian provinces.
- Chief Executive of PUB, Mr Khoo Teng Chye, said, “The new framework reflects PUB’s efforts to raise the skills and capabilities of the water industry as part of its endeavour to grow the local water sector and attract more talents. Water has been identified as a key growth engine for the economy and we are actively developing the local water industry into a global hub for water technologies and solutions. These present valuable job opportunities for the present water industry workforce as well as potential entrants to the sector.
- SWA President Mr Tang Kin Fei said, “As Singapore’s association for the water industry, SWA actively looks at how we can help to strengthen the pool of qualified, well-informed talent to support the continued growth of our industry. We are very happy to work with PUB on this new certification programme, which will raise the bar for water expertise here, and we encourage companies to make use of WDA’s support to upgrade their operating know-how through it. Ultimately, we hope the programme will gain widespread international acceptance, allowing those who complete it to be recognised as qualified technicians or operators in the global water industry. This will help water players here gain added advantage in marketing their capabilities overseas.
- The water industry holds immense potential for Singapore. WDA is excited to work with PUB, SWA and industry partners to enhance the quality and standard of training in the industry. By doing so, we hope to contribute to our companies’ competitiveness. We will also help existing and new water industry professionals capitalise on the excellent career opportunities being created in the sector,” said Mr Chan Heng Kee, Chief Executive of WDA.
- PUB will be working closely with SWA, WDA as well as the Environmental Water Industry Development Council, the body that oversees the growth and development of the water sector in Singapore, to actively review the training needs of the industry and develop more certification programmes on integrated water management for the water industry.
More information on the WSQ Certified Used Water Treatment Operator course can be found in Annex A.
