SINGAPORE – From April 2025, mid-career workers looking to acquire skills in the environmental services sector will be able to take a course at Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and use their SkillsFuture credits to offset the fee.

This SkillsFuture Career Transition program is a joint effort of Temasek Polytechnic, the Environmental Management Association of Singapore and the National Environment Agency (NEA).

The full-time, three-month course is the first of its kind for the industry and will cover topics such as robotics, automation and performance-based contracting for cleaning services. Details will be published on the TP website later in November.

“Through this programme, we hope to attract more talented mid-career people into the environmental services sector with growth opportunities to build meaningful careers and do impactful work,” said Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who announced the initiative as part of a commemorative event. Clean and Green Singapore Day on 3 November.

DPM Heng spoke at the event, which was held at the National University of Singapore UTown and organized by NUS and agencies including the National Environment Agency, the South West Community Development Council and the National Parks Council (NParks).

DPM Heng also awarded the Star Award for Environmental Services to individuals in the cleaning, waste management and pest management sectors.

Among the 27 recipients of the award was Mr. Noor Azmi Bin Ranai, 41, a senior operations manager at CBM, a facilities management services company.

Mr Azmi, who has worked in this field for over 20 years, said: “I hope more people see the value of this industry and how it plays an important role in shaping society as a whole.”

DPM Heng also provided an update on the acceptance of $300 e-vouchers for households living in Housing Board flats to purchase green appliances. As of October, 73% of eligible households have redeemed their vouchers, of which a third have started using them.

In April, it was reported that there were 1.1 million HDB households that could get these vouchers, which are valid until 31 December 2027.

“I encourage more households to start buying them back,” said DPM Heng.

Before speaking at UTown, Mr Heng joined 160 NUS students and staff in a tree planting ceremony where 50 new trees were planted. It brought the total number of trees on the NUS campus to 50,000.

Among those attending the tree planting ceremony were Minister for Sustainability and Environment Grace Fu, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee, South West District Mayor Low Yen Ling and representatives of participating agencies.

Since 2020, NParks has worked with the community to plant 700,000 trees across Singapore, moving towards its 2030 goal of one million trees.

DPM Heng also launched the Public Hygiene Council’s (PHC) latest CleanPod at West Coast Park. This is a shed where the public can get litter picking tools like tongs and buckets to clean up the area.

CleanPods aim to make it easy for the public to organize cleaning activities. There are now 21 CleanPods located in various parks, beaches and apartment buildings. More details on how to access CleanPod are available on PHC website.