About Singapore’s Education and Training Industry
Singapore’s students are among the best worldwide, particularly in literacy, reading, mathematics, and science. Much of this is due to the quality and consistency of our education system.
However, each generation of learners, whether young or old, has evolving learning needs, and for today’s tech-based content consumers, teaching has also evolved towards digitalisation.
The key buzzword: Education Technologies, or EdTech.
These are hardware and software designed to enhance learning. If you’ve watched an interactive learning video or taken part in a captivating online trivia quiz, an EdTech organisation was likely behind it.
Ultimately, EdTech has made quality education easily available to those with a computer and an internet connection and changed our perception of learning.
As such, the Ministry of Education (MOE) engaged more than 2,000 Singaporeans since August 2022 to discuss the desired collective outcomes for education and lifelong learning under the Forward Singapore Equip pillar. The following three areas resonated the most with participants:
- Embracing lifelong learning to seize new opportunities and maximise potential
- Supporting students’ diverse interests, learning needs and aspirations
- Building an inclusive society for our students with special educational needs (SEN) and their families
Looking for a job in the education sector? Explore available jobs on MyCareersFuture now!
Size of the job market
Besides EdTech, jobs also exist for adult training provider companies, which the Singapore government will support in exporting continuing education and training (CET) to overseas markets.
The goal is to allow the sector to gain experience, acquire a broader view of effective educational deliveries, diversify the sector, and test its capabilities in overseas markets.
There are over 20,000 TAE professionals, of which 50% are adult educators responsible for the design and delivery of training, and the remaining 50% are learning managers who provide support to ensure the quality of training experience. These Singapore workers are employed by over 1,000 training organisations across three CET pillars:
- Private Training Organisations
- Institutes of Higher Learning
- In-house Enterprises
Why is this sector important to Singapore’s economy?
The education and training industry matters to Singapore greatly, as the Ministry of Manpower puts it, because ”continuing education and training expands the knowledge and skills of the workforce, helps raise productivity and enhances lifelong employability of workers.”
“Investment in human capital through training is also strategic in helping firms raise productivity and competitiveness.”
As such, MOE’s Transforming Education Through Technology (EdTech) Masterplan 2030, which will be implemented in schools progressively from 2024, was launched in September 2023.
Minister for Education Chan Chun Sing shared: “Our students (and Singaporean workers) will have greater uncertainty to deal with, and they may not be able to experience the stability and peace that we have experienced in the last 20, 30 years.”
This factors in key challenges such as a fragmenting global order, economic disruptions, and rapid technological developments, especially in generative artificial intelligence (AI).
The masterplan will help leverage EdTech to do more with current resources to cater to students’ different learning needs while helping teachers manage the pace of change.
Minister Chan admitted that adult education is a “much harder task to do” compared to MOE schools.
Speaking at the Adult Learning Exchange 2024, he highlighted some main challenges, including catering to adult learners spanning various age bands, educational backgrounds, responsibilities and learning abilities.
Another one is keeping learning content up to date with industry demands. The entire cycle of generating adult learning content currently takes more than a year, by which time the content is often no longer relevant to industry demand by then.
The challenge is then how to organise the adult learning ecosystem to create content at speed, added Minister Chan.
This is why the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) has launched the Adult Learning Collaboratory (ALC) that aims to address these areas.
Supported by SkillsFuture Singapore, ALC aims to collaborate with 40 partners across the adult learning landscape in developing research and development (R&D) and innovative learning approaches.
The ALC’s new 3,500sqft physical facility at the Lifelong Learning Institute in Eunos Road is set to be completed by the second half of 2024.
The facility will include a theatrette equipped with interactive technologies and collaborative workplaces, to facilitate dialogue and experimentation, according to Minister Chan.
Growth sectors and outlook for the education and training sector
Universities, private education institutions, and training organisations are the top hirers for emerging EdTech roles such as instructional designers and technologists.
These roles are instrumental to EdTech, which combines different disciplines of education and technology to provide a quality and intuitive learning experience.
Hence, individuals who have prior expertise in these fields will stand to gain in this growing area.
Hiring demand for workplace learning roles such as learning performance consultants has more than doubled between Q2 2021 to Q1 2022, and will continue to only grow.
In addition, the demand for learning and development-related skills has increased in functional roles such as:
- Human Resource (HR) and Learning and Development (L&D) professionals who lead workforce development plans and establish systems to enable skills acquisition;
- Line managers and functional leads who train, coach, and mentor employees at workplaces for optimal work performance, or provide on-the-job training for new skills.
Companies such as Singapore-based GenieBook have been leveraging AI to fill the gaps in traditional education systems. They actively test how AI can enhance learning experiences for students and educators through personalised learning, automatic exam grading, and immediate feedback on assignments.
The company’s co-founder and chief executive, Zhizhong Neo, told Techwire Asia: “The primary motivator for creating Geniebook was to bridge this gap by catering to each student’s personalised learning needs, often overlooked in traditional settings.”
BytePlus, the enterprise division of ByteDance, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with EduSpaze, another Singapore-based EdTech company, with the goal of using BytePlus’ sentiment analysis to help educators and learning platforms to monitor student’s focus levels, comprehend their learning journey and improve teaching outcomes.
Some of the jobs EdTech companies are hiring for include:
- Instructional Designer
- Software Developer/Engineer
- Graphic Designer
- Learning Experience Designer
- EdTech Researcher
- E-learning Specialist
- Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Developer
- Product Managers
- Consultants
- Sales and Marketing
Mid-career switch: Why is the training and adult education sector a good choice?
An enhanced training and adult education (TAE) Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025 was launched in February 2023 by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).
This ITM seeks to position TAE as a relevant and responding partner in workforce development and enterprise transformation for employers across all industries.
Given the emerging skills required by the sector, training providers will need to invest in building a strong and skilled TAE workforce.
SSG worked with IAL to revamp the Workforce Skills Qualifications Advanced Certificate in Learning and Performance (WSQ ACLP). This enables aspiring adult educators to acquire the essentials of classroom facilitation, tech-enabled learning, workplace learning delivery, and assessment in a shorter amount of time.
Aspiring adult educators will be able to complete the revamped WSQ ACLP in three months, compared to the previous six to nine months required. SSG will also work closely with IAL and industry stakeholders to provide more support for adult educators to develop their skill sets, particularly in areas that are growing in importance and demand.
These include skills in EdTech, workplace learning, and career coaching.
But beyond companies in the TAE sector, there are also opportunities to join companies that are focused on employer-supported training.
According to a report released in January 2024 by MOM, more employers are providing structured training to their employees, with numbers recovering from the lows during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Certain growth sectors, such as finance and insurance services and professional services, also maintained high training numbers, reflecting the need for workers to continuously upskill and reskill in these sectors.
As such, even mid-careerists looking to move towards the TAE sector could very well find suitable in-house trainer roles, become educators in their current job industry, and utilise prior experiences in a more digitalised fashion with the help of EdTech.
Looking for a new role? Explore over 100,000 jobs available on MyCareersFuture now!
Types of jobs in the training and adult education sector
Here are some jobs within the TAE sector and what they entail.
- Learning Facilitator
A learning facilitator delivers learning products and services in various environments, using multiple learning delivery modes and methods. They also assess learning needs and adapt the facilitation approach to reflect desired learning outcomes and learner needs.
- Assessor
An sssessor is responsible for conducting assessments, which measure learner competence and development, and managing the award of certifications and accreditations. They also facilitate data collection and analysis, which is used to measure learner competence and development and establish overall trends and performance gaps.
- Courseware Developer
A courseware developer conducts research and develops learning materials based on curriculum objectives and assessment of learning needs.
- Learning Technology Designer
A learning technology designer drives innovation and research by identifying emerging technology applications and developing roadmaps for technology implementation. They also analyse data to evaluate the effectiveness of learning technology and systems, thus identifying improvement opportunities.
- Learning Consultant/Learning Solutionist
A learning consultant or solutionist collaborates with various stakeholders to understand critical requirements and objectives to diagnose workplace performance gaps and evaluate learning opportunities. The role also entails designing and implementing bespoke learning solutions and interventions to drive business results, workplace performance improvement and behaviour change.
- Curriculum Lead
A curriculum lead evaluates overall curriculum effectiveness and recommends improvement areas. They also lead teams that are responsible for the creation of learning curricula, services and technology.
What’s the salary like in the education and training industry?
Jobs in the banking and financial services sector cover a broad spectrum of roles, and salaries vary depending on the specific job function, level of experience, and qualifications.
Here are some examples listed on the MyCareersFuture jobs portal:
| Role | Salary Range (Monthly) |
| Curriculum Developer | $4,500 to $4,500 |
| Academic Head | $5,000 to $8,000 |
| Senior Trainer- Technical Trades | $5,500 to $7,500 |
| Teaching Admin Assistant | $2,500 to $2,800 |
| Data Specialist (Education) | $8,000 to $12,000 |
| Centre Manager (Education) | $4,000 to $4,500 |
| Education and Programmes Officer | $2,400 to $2,700 |
| Sales and Marketing Manager (EdTech) | $2,500 to $6,000 |
| In-house Learning and Development Lead | $6,666 to $8,333 |
| Learning and Development Specialist | $4,000 to $6,000 |
What courses or skills are needed to join the education and training industry?
The growing number of roles in EdTech tap into a wide host of transferable skills used in the digital economy.
For instance, learning solution design is a highly sought-after skill for instructional designers who design user interfaces to enhance learners’ experience.
Other transferable skills also include agile software development and project management.
Project management, learning and development, and learning mode design are also key skills required in job postings in the sector.
Critical core skills, soft skills that are transferable across all domains of work, also feature prominently. This includes the creative thinking, digital fluency, and learning agility needed to drive organisational change.
Here are some other courses to consider:
- CoC in Introduction to User Interface User Experience (UIUX)
- Apply Pedagogy Methodology for the Workplace
- NICF – Project Management Professional (PMP)® (SF)
- Advanced Certificate in Innovative Educational Technologies Module 4: Applications of Edtech and Artificial Intelligence for Educators
- Designing e-Learning
- WSQ Workplace Learning Facilitator Programme (WLF1): Facilitate Workplace Learning (Classroom & Asynchronous)
- Professional Certificate in Coaching Module 3: Advanced Coaching Skills (Synchronous E-Learning)
