SINGAPORE – Workers who are looking to sharpen their digital skills or develop new competencies can now use their government-sponsored SkillsFuture credits to join courses on Udemy Business and Coursera.

The initiative is part of Singapore’s nationwide upskilling programme to prepare talent for the future of work, especially in the era of AI.

Learners aged 25 and above can claim the training benefit through the MySkillsFuture portal to sign up for over 30,000 courses on the two learning platforms. Learners can allocate their initial credits worth S$500, plus the $500 one-time top-up given in 2020, to offset annual subscription plans, which are typically priced at $499.

Udemy Business offers 27,000 online courses, while Coursera maintains a library of 7,700 courses, 2,500 guided projects, and 130 professional certification programmes.

The registration period for this quarter runs from 28 August to 25 September for Coursera and up to 15 September for Udemy Business.

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Singaporean learners taking interest in AI courses

Amid the growing poularity of AI, machine learning and data science across industries, Coursera has seen an eightfold year-on-year increase in enrolments in generative AI courses throughout 2024.

Singapore, in particular, is among the world’s top 10 countries with the highest number of enrollees in AI courses.

Coursera anticipates there will be even greater interest in AI upskilling among Singaporeans because of the SkillsFuture benefit.

Raghav Gupta, Managing Director (APAC) at Coursera, hopes the government-sponsored upskilling will complement the rise in AI skills adoption that Coursera is witnessing.

“This initiative will equip learners with the skills and credentials needed to stay resilient and adaptable, opening up more pathways to economic opportunities in the globalised world,” Gupta said.

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Singaporeans among the most skillful in high-demand areas

With 1.1 million Coursera learners in Singapore, the city-state is among the world’s top performers when it comes to skills development – becoming the second most skillful country in the Asia Pacific and the 12th in the world, Gupta said, citing data from the firm’s own global skills report.

Singaporeans using Coursera also ranked 11th globally in terms of proficiency in business and technology and 15th in data science. These results coincide with the latest findings from SkillsFuture regarding the most in-demand skills in the Singapore economy.

Three areas emerged as the most vital today: business management, data management and production management.

“Singapore’s dedication to upskilling its workforce is truly inspiring, with learners actively acquiring new skills and technologies,” Gupta said.