Several Members of Parliament had questioned the conclusions of the PIAAC study, asking if the Ministry of Education ( MOE ) has policies in place to help people in Singapore maintain their literacy levels as they get older and whether the decline in literacy will have an impact on the employability of people over 35.
On Wednesday, Mr. Chan stated that there is growing research interest in how technology has altered how people consume and process information, with some people switching from lengthy, complicated writing to shorter social media posts and movies.
There is also a chance of serious thinking and reflection being eroded as mental freelancing becomes more widespread with AI, he said.
UPSKILLING BEYOND FIRST 15 YEARS OF FORMAL EDUCATION
Mr. Chan responded to questions about what the benefits ‘ impact on the workforce’s competitiveness meant for local workers ‘ employment.
Different factors will need to be taken into account, such as whether employees have job-specific abilities that are essential to their attractiveness.
Mr. Chan added that other factors are used to evaluate a country’s competitiveness or workplace, such as the employment rate, the number of companies continuing to invest in Singapore’s great jobs, and whether employees are still earning good wages.
” However, to mitigate the degeneration and failure results, it is necessary for us to continually train and reskill throughout existence, beyond the first 15 years of formal education”, he added.  ,
” I always emphasize that while we have done well for the first 15 years of our students ‘ academic performance in school, we must also concentrate on the next 50 years of their lives after graduation.”