Grant Application

Overview of the course guidelines in NUS

Scope SkillsFuture Singapore Capability Development Grant Business Catalyst Project
Description Skills Future Singapore (SSG) offers baseline subsidies of 70% on SkillsFuture series courses.   Singapore Citizens aged 40 and above may enjoy an additional 20% of subsidies under the Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy (MCES). The Capability Development Grant (CDG) encourages and supports the continuous professional and capability development of Autonomous Universities/Polytechnics/ITE (AUs/Polys/ITE). The Business Catalyst Project is an initiative by SkillsFuture Singapore for enterprises to embark on projects in strengthening capabilities through implementation-led training
Target Audience Singapore Citizen(s), Singapore Permanent Resident(s) or holder(s) of a Long Term Visit Pass Plus issued by Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority CET units looking to bolster their internal capabilities to deliver CET programmes. Enterprises who are looking to strengthen their capabilities.
 

Stackable Courses – Refers to courses that can be stacked to obtain a post-grad certification (a Graduate Diploma or above). Schools must be able to provide the qualifications construct and pathway.

Standalone Courses – Refers to short courses that do not stack to a full qualification. These short courses may or may not be stacked to a Professional Certificate or Advanced Professional Certificate. 

SkillsFuture Singapore Funding

Introduction

SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) offers subsidies of 70 – 90% on SkillsFuture series courses for Singapore Citizens (SC) and Singapore Permanent Residents.

Funding support has also been extended to Long Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) Holders. This scheme applies to lawful foreign spouses of Singapore Citizens who fulfil the following conditions

  • at least one SC child or are expecting one from the marriage, or at least three years of marriage and
  • the SC sponsor is able to support the family
Funding for IHL Stackable Modular and Short Courses
Course fees subsidies for MOE/SSG-funded modular courses and WSQ courses Up to 70% of course fees
Enhanced Training Support Scheme (ETSS) for employers that send employees who are LTVP+ holders for training Up to 90% of course fees

LTVP+ holders will be eligible for up to 70% funding of course fees for IHL stackable modular and short courses

Learners must pass all assessment components to be eligible for SSG funding. Funding will be dependent on the age and citizenship status of each applicant.

Funding Eligibility

The 3rd Block Grant comes with a mandate for NUS to strictly adhere to the portfolio mix of the following:

  • Stackable programmes: 40%
  • SkillsFuture Series programmes: 40%
  • SkillsFuture Career Transition Programme: 20%
  • Standalone and SkillsFuture Series programmes will be restricted to a maximum of 40% each of the total training places
  • Allocation of grants will focus on training places committed based on the required portfolio mix. SCALE EM team will conduct a half-yearly review of utilization portfolio to ensure:
    • Grants will be disbursed only when corresponding training places in each of the portfolio mix matches up
    • Recovery of allocated training places and grants will be conducted in cases of under-utilized allocations
    • Should CET units deviate too far from the 40-40-20 mix, SCALE will initiate a “deceleration of short courses” move
  • In-house training (i.e. offered to NUS staff under NUS sponsorship) will no longer be applicable for funding         
  • CET units to adhere to the following guidelines to balance the training place portfolio mix:
    • Consumption of the stackable training places match standalone training places 1 for 1. For every training place secured for a short course, CET units must clock one training place for a stackable programme, such as SCTP.
      • Standalone/short courses: 1 participant = 1 training place
      • Stackable/SCTP: 1 module = 1 training place
      • Total number of training places for short courses = Total number of modules for stackables x Total number of participants
    • Standalone and SkillsFuture Series courses to remain at a constant 40% each of the overall training places
    • SCTP and Academic modules to remain at a constant 60% of the overall training places
    • Any increase in Standalone or SkillsFuture series courses should be met with an increase in SCTP and Academic modules in proportion
    • Any decrease in SCTP and Academic modules should be met with a proportionate decrease in short courses
        • For academic courses to be funded at Tier 1, it will have to be stackable to Bachelor Degree, Graduate Diploma, Masters Degree or be tagged as a Skillsfuture series course i.e. Care, Digital, Green and Industry 4.0
  • Funding is only eligible for applicants who fulfill the following requirements:
    • Must either be a Singapore Citizen (SC) or Permanent Resident (PR) of Singapore to qualify for the funding
    • Must meet SSG’s requirement of a minimum of 75% attendance rate to be eligible for a certificate.
    • Must pass all prescribed examinations and assessments

Capability Development Grant (CDG)

Introduction

The Capability Development Grant (CDG) encourages and supports the continuous professional and capability development of Autonomous Universities/Polytechnics/ITE (AUs/Polys/ITE), specifically to support the internal capabilities to deliver CET programmes.

The CDG covers the following scope and funding parameters:

ScopeFunding Parameters
Manpower
  • Expenditure on Manpower (EOM) can be used to support manpower employed to build up new capabilities such as career services, consultancy services, curriculum development
Knowledge Transfer
  • Engagement of external expertise/consultants with the aim to build up placement/career facilitation, consultancy capabilities
  • Curriculum development costs (e.g. supporting AUs’ capability in curriculum development methodologies etc)
  • Costs of job redesign to develop new posts to deliver CET interventions and new CET services (e.g. placement, consultancy services)
  • Train-the-Trainer sessions
  • Organisation of conferences to bring in experts to share CET best practices, e.g. CET Symposium for IHLs
  • Marketing and promotion/outreach efforts to promote new CET interventions, services and capabilities
Facilities / Infrastructure
  • Facilities / Infrastructure for CET delivery
  • Purchase of Licensing/Subscription Fees [1]

Submission of proposal

The submission of proposals should include the following:

  • Objective: Description of the objective(s) of the capability development initiative(s), including how it will enable the delivery of the new CET efforts and/or ramp up of CET efforts
  • Scope: Description of the scope of the capability development initiative(s) to be implemented
  • Costing and cost comparison
    • Cost components breakdown (in SGD), including costing before and after GST
    • Cost comparison and benchmark against similar products or services available in the market
  • Outcomes: Target outcomes to be achieved, including:
    • Number of CET learners and enterprises who will benefit from the initiative(s) (e.g. number of trainees / training places)
    • Impact on sector

[1] If the purchase of licensing/subscription fees is for enterprise transformation projects, this cost item should be included in the project proposals for the Mentorship Support Grant (MSG). 

    • Other relevant impact measurements on CET learners and enterprises that will contribute to the outcomes tracked under the initiative
  • Project timeline
    • Projection execution and completion
    • Timeline for tracking of outcomes
      • *CET units to note that the project should not commence before approval has been secured.

Process Flows

Application

  • CET units to submit CDG Proposal to SCALE
  • SCALE to liaise with SSG for approval.
  • Approval process to take approximately three months
  • Upon approval by SSG, SCALE to work with CET units to commence the project.

 Claims Submission

  • CET units will be required to submit periodic utilization report and milestone updates to SCALE to ensure the project is on track and to ensure accountability of claims
  • CET units to ensure all claims are fully compliant with the requirements before submission
  • Upon completion, CET units to submit the claims and supporting documents to SCALE
  • The claims will be subjected to audit by SSG and disbursement will only be performed after the successful clearance of audit

 

Quarterly Audit Process flow

  • SCALE will engage an external auditor to conduct a quarterly audit. Claims will only be submitted for disbursement on TP Gateway (TPG) upon successful clearance of the audit.
  • To facilitate the audit, SCALE will inform all CET units in advance to allows CET units preparation time for them to close any gaps during this preparation phase
  • CET units are to appoint a point of contact (POC) to standby for audit queries.

Business Catalyst Project with Mentorship Support Grant (MSG)

Introduction

The Business Catalyst Project (BCP) is an initiative by SkillsFuture Singapore for enterprises to embark on projects in strengthening capabilities through implementation-led training, consultancy services and workplace-centric projects for business and operational transformation.

The Mentorship Support Grant (MSG) is a financial grant provided by SSG to co-fund the costs incurred by enterprises in engaging NUS to provide project mentorship through consultancy and/or project0based implementation-led training.

The types of BCP(s) eligible for MSG are:

  • AI Integration
  • Digital Marketing
  • Growth and Expansion Blueprint
  • Industry 4.0 related projects (including capstone project)
  • Process Optimisation
  • Product Development
  • Sustainability
  • Other customized BCP

Overview of process

  • Submission of proposals
    • SCALE discusses with interested Enterprise and provides the BCP Proposal template
    • Enterprise submits BCP Proposal along with supporting documents to SCALE
  • Process flow – The BCP proposal should consist of the following two components:
    • Mandatory component (compulsory to include one or more of the following:
      • Mentorship/Coaching
      • Training
      • Workshops
    • Selective component (may include one or more of the following:
      • Consultancy services
      • Implementation and monitoring
      • Learning journeys
      • Solutions curation and evaluation

Funding

  • Enterprises can tap on up to 90% funding support, capped at $30,000 per project of more than 6 months duration.
  • Each enterprise can apply for a maximum of 3 BCPs to run consecutively.
  • For enterprises to be eligible to get the BCP and MSG fundings, enterprises must meet the following requirements:
    • Government agencies (including ministries and statutory boards) OR Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) registered and operating in Singapore OR Non-SME’s registered and operating in Singapore
    • Be in a financially viable position to start and complete the BCP

Costing

  • The breakdown of the amount claimable for the different categories are as follows:
    • SMEs
BCP (Full Fee)MSG (Capped at $30,000)
$30,000$27, 000
(90% of full fee)
$40,000$30,000
(Capped at $30,000)
    • Government Agencies and non-SMEs
BCP (Full Fee)MSG (Capped at $30,000)
$30,000$21, 000
(70% of full fee)
$40,000$28,000
(70% of full fee)
  • Deliverables and documentation
    • Endorsed BCP Mentoring Timesheet
    • Endorsed BCP Completion Report
    • Completed Survey forms (Levels 1 – 4)
  • Claims submission process
    • NUS SCALE to fill up Claims Template to SSG on a quarterly basis

Process flow

Scoping and Application

  • SCALE discusses with Enterprise and provides the BCP Proposal Template
  • Enterprise submits BCP Proposal along with supporting documents to SCALE

Approval and Commencement

  • CET unit assigns a Professor with submission documents required for completion
  • Pre-approved Standard Package BCP (Only Sustainability BCP is pre-approved)
    • Assistant Dean, NUS SCALE to approve
  • Customised BCP
    • SSG to approve
  • CET unit prepares BCP Agreement and issues to the Enterprise
  • Enterprise signs Agreement
  • NUS prepares Invoice and issues to the Enterprise
  • Enterprise pays net fees and BCP to commence

BCP Completion

  • SCALE to monitor progress using Gannt Charts/Milestones charts during the course of the BCP
  • Enterprise completes BCP

Post BCP Completion

  • Within 1 week of BCP completion
    • Assigned Professor to administer Level 1 & Level 2 surveys for Enterprise
    • SCALE to arrange for testimonial interview and craft out success stories
  • Within 2 weeks of BCP completion
    • Assigned Professor submits all completion documentation and reports, as stated below:
      • Endorsed BCP Mentoring Timesheet
      • Endorsed BCP Completion Report
  • After 3 months of BCP completion
    • Assigned Professor meets Enterprise for Level 3 & 4 survey interviews after 3 months from completion date
    • CET unit to issue payment to Assigned Professor through OPWN on CHRS
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