iBuildSG scholarship and sponsorship awards: 472 individuals conferred

Singapore, 1 February 2021 – The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has granted 472 scholarship and sponsorship awards to recognise professionals for their dedication and hard work in the construction industry. This is a substantial increase from last year’s 351 awards.

Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office and in the Ministry of National Development, Tan Kiat How, shared with the recipients how industry transformation has created higher-skilled job roles for professionals in the built environment sector, particularly in key areas such as Design for Manufacturing Assembly (DfMA) and Integrated Digital Delivery (IDD).

Read: BCA has committed S$20 million in the built environment sector to adopt digital solutions

The Prime Minister also encouraged the recipients to refer to the recently launched Skills Framework for the Built Environment, to understand the skills and competencies required for various job roles in the sector, as well as the possible career progression pathways.

BCA has been working closely with industry stakeholders to help firms and individuals adopt the framework. Firms can refer to this to bolster their human resource (HR) practices. Individuals themselves can better understand the skills required to take on jobs in the transformational areas and proactively equip themselves with the relevant skills for career progression or take on a new challenge in a different career path.

Read: How have business and labour demand in the construction industry been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?

As the sector continues its transformation journey, new job roles in emerging areas are being created, which require a skilled and competent workforce to fill. Teh Ming Xuan, an iBuildSG scholarship recipient this year, is a planning engineer at Kimly Construction Pte Ltd. He is currently working on projects involving DfMA and advanced digital solutions that improve efficiency and allow for greater collaboration amongst project teams. These include implementing a logistics and quality management system that allows the management of quality of PPVC modules.

He previously took on an internship at Kimly and during the eight-month period, he had the opportunity to work in three departments, gaining valuable experience and cementing his interest in DfMA and IDD. He was subsequently offered a scholarship and a position at Kimly.

Read: Building a more resilient construction sector by promoting DfMA and sandboxing innovation

Kelvin Wong, CEO of BCA, congratulated all the recipients of the iBuildSG scholarship and sponsorship awards. He said, “While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the built environment sector, we are aware of the need to push on with its transformation efforts in order to build more efficiently and reduce its reliance on manpower. This means that there will be an increase in demand for competent and capable professionals who are proficient in transformational areas such as DfMA and IDD. We are working closely with the sector to encourage adoption of our initiatives, such as training programmes and the Skills Framework, to support our shared ambitions. I am glad that the sector recognises the importance of grooming a capable and resilient workforce, and has taken firm steps in working with tripartite partners to achieve this common goal.”

Source: BCA