4,500 students to receive free AI training by end-2025
More adults and students will have access to free online training in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology topics over the next year announced global tech company IBM on Aug 23.
IBM announced a collaboration with Republic Polytechnic (RP), Singapore Polytechnic (SP) and training provider Junior Achievement (JA) to use and adapt lessons from some 1,000 tech-related courses in the IBM SkillsBuild platform for an estimated 4,500 students and adult learners over one year.
The collaboration was announced at the IBM office at Marina Bay Financial Centre, where Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Rahayu Mahzam, who was the guest of honour, welcomed the collaboration for it can help locals find new job opportunities and acquire tech skills which are in short supply.
Building an AI-equipped workforce would require “a proactive approach by going upstream to prepare our youths even before they enter the workforce,” said Ms Rahayu on Aug 23.
She said: “It includes integrating AI education and digital literacy into vocational training and equipping them with the foundational skills required to do well in a rapidly changing job market.”
SkillsBuild courses are available for free as part of IBM’s goal to provide online training to 30 million people globally by 2030. According to IBM chief impact officer and vice president Justina Nixon-Saintil, some 11.5 million people have used the educational platform, which was launched in 2021, as at the end of 2023.
Ms Nixon-Saintil said that one way to reach keen learners is to collaborate with schools.
SP will be tapping on SkillsBuild’s AI, data and cybersecurity courses to support learning for their computing courses, while RP plans to introduce it into its curriculum, specifically to train students in data sciences and AI skills, among other topics.
Both polytechnics will also explore using the resources in common curriculum modules to ensure all students are well versed in AI.
Mr Loh Yew Chiong, SP’s deputy principal, said the online courses can be utilised as quizzes for lecturers to keep track of students’ understanding of AI subjects.
Students will also be encouraged to complete AI or other courses to attain IBM’s professional certifications, which help to enhance their portfolio when applying for jobs, said Mr Loh.
RP chief technology officer Fong Yew Chan said IBM SkillsBuild provides plenty of useful material that adds on to the school’s curriculum.
Non-profit organisation JA, which organises career and financial literacy workshops in schools, aims to use the online resources to support the learning of roughly 3,000 students within a year, said executive director Ng Hau Yee.
Ms Ng said: “If you tell kids to go online to do a quiz, they probably won’t do it by themselves. So we can use the modules to design our courses as a teaser to topics like AI and cybersecurity.”
There has been no shortage of efforts by schools and enterprises to build AI talent here following Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s announcement in 2023 on Singapore’s renewed national AI strategy to triple its AI talent pool.
New degrees and scholarship programmes have since been offered at the Nanyang Technological University, backed by an initial $4 million to support AI education and research in 2024.
Besides its dedicated AI degrees and minor in AI on offer to students, Singapore University of Technology and Design introduced AI courses for adult learners in 2024. These include classes on using generative AI and understanding the science behind such programs.
Even professionals in non-IT sectors like logistics and finance have been sent to attend tech training sessions to acquire digital skills through efforts by the authorities and trade associations.
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