Singapore’s public service to offer more jobs for people with disabilities
Singapore’s public service will increase the number of jobs offered to people with disabilities, according to one of several measures designed to help the vulnerable included in the state’s latest budget.
Finance minister Heng Swee Keat on March 24 announced the government’s planned spending priorities, which include boosted support for disabled people and low wage workers.
These include an extension of the government’s Workfare Training Scheme, which helps people on low incomes complete training courses, to include more persons with disabilities.
As part of that scheme extension, Heng said that “the public service will play its part in expanding job opportunities for persons with disabilities, with support from SGEnable” – a government agency which delivers disability programmes.
Other measures announced in the budget increased support for small businesses; a series of schemes to promote automation and the use of robotics; and a pilot initiative that will help parents pay for development programmes for their children.
Total expenditure is projected at $73.43bn (US$54.1bn), which, despite representing a 7.3% increase compared to last financial year, will lead to an overall budget surplus of $3.45bn (US$2.54bn), according to official government estimates.
MPs began debating the budget in Parliament yesterday, and tomorrow, Heng will respond to the MPs’ comments and concerns as part of a Parliamentary debate, after which Parliament will vote on the budget.
Ministers will then present the budgets of their individual ministries during the Committee of Supply debate, and MPs will scrutinise and comment on their spending plans. The debate will conclude on 14 April.
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About Winnie Agbonlahor
Winnie is news editor of Global Government Forum. She previously reported for Civil Service World - the trade magazine for senior UK government officials. Originally from Germany, Winnie first came to the UK in 2006 to study a BA in Journalism & Russian at the University of Sheffield. She is bilingual in English and German, and, after spending an academic year abroad in Russia and reporting for the Moscow Times, Winnie also speaks Russian fluently.
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