This country wants people aged 40 and above to go back to university. Know why

Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a skill for the future- it is happening right here, right now, necessitating skill updates for workers in every industry.

Though it is still a matter of debate if AI will completely replace human labour, Singapore seems to realise before most of the other countries that it is a good idea to learn how to use it to our benefit. It wants people aged 40 and above to upskill themselves to stay relevant in the changing world.

The government has launched a new subsidy scheme for people aged 40 and above to refresh their skills. It will cover at least 90 per cent of the fee of a full-time diploma course in higher education.

Talking about the new subsidy scheme, Tan Wu Meng, Member of Parliament, said that learning together would benefit both middle-aged workers and younger people.

The new subsidy scheme for Singaporeans recognises that what people have learnt in school at the age of 20 may have “changed, transformed and replaced by a new world” by the time they become 40 years old, he said.

“Having mid-career workers learning new skills alongside younger workers – a middle-aged, mid-carer worker alongside someone who’s 18, 19, 20 plus years old – will also transform the education experience in our institutions of higher learning,” Tan Wu Meng said in his speech.

“Older workers bring life experience, life skills and living wisdom into the classroom. Even as they bring that into the classroom, they also learn new skills together with the younger students,” he added.

A vision for the future

Singapore will invest more than $1 billion in AI computing, talent, and industry development over the next five years as part of its National AI Strategy (NIAS) 2.0.

In his speech, the MP mentioned how AI technology is advancing faster than people had predicted.

“I had expected the technology to take another two to three years. As it happened, it took place faster than I imagined. Within 10 months, OpenAI had announced the Sora platform to produce AI-generated video,” he said while commenting on the ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s new video tool.

“No country, no economy can hide from these changes in the world with AI…So, we have to accept the world as it is, the way the world is going to be, and look after, support, empower and uplift our people,” he added.