Hi,I would like to have a thesis done on skills future. Most importantly it should have citations in APA style. In-text citations, end text citation and reference at the end is nessecary. Also to be plaragarism concerned. I have attached a file on the guidelines.As the dateline is nearing, I need it by 23 Aug 16 latest.
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COR160
Essential Academic Writing Skills
Tutor-Marked Assignment 01
July 2016 Semester
Copyright © 2016 SIM University
COR160
Tutor-Marked Assignment
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT 01
This tutor-marked assignment is worth 45% of the final mark for COR160 Essential Academic
Writing Skills.
The cut-off date for this assignment is 2355hrs on 26 August 2016.
___________________________________________________________________________
Submit your solution document in the form of a single MS Word file on or before the cut-off
date shown above.
Additional instructions:
1.
You will need to indicate clearly on the front page your name, student ID, course title
and assignment number. Note also the following:
 Spacing (between the lines): 1.5 or double spacing
 Font style: Arial or Times New Roman preferred
 Font size: 12 preferred (min 11 and max 13)
2.
Summarise using your own words as much as possible. You must document all
information that you use from another source, or you will be penalized severely. You
must acknowledge these by using the APA documentation style. This includes both
in-text citations and end-of-text referencing.
3.
If you copy from the work of another student, regardless of the course or programme,
you will be severely penalized. You are not permitted to re-use material from past
assignments whether in part or in full. All of the above actions can result in your
failing the TMA.
*Remember that accurate and proper documentation of information from secondary sources
is essential because UniSIM takes a very serious view on plagiarism. All information from
secondary sources will be detected by the Turnitin software that your assignment will be put
through in Blackboard and anything that is not acknowledged and properly documented will
be taken as an instance of plagiarism and your assignment may be failed.
Scope
You will find Chapters 3 (Critical Reading), 7 (Summary, Paraphrase, Quotation), 8a
(Synthesizing), 8b (Synthesizing Sources) and 9 (Locating, Mining and Citing Sources) in
your COR160 textbook useful. Refer also to the relevant on-line study units.
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Learning outcomes
− Cite sources in writing using the proper citation and referencing style.
− Evaluate information critically from various sources to respond to a task.
− Synthesise information from various sources in writing in response to a given task.
− Develop a rhetorical structure of an essay.
Question 1
On 25/02/2015, then Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Chairman of the
SkillsFuture Council, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced in the Budget Speech 2015
Singapore’s plan to develop Singaporeans into lifelong learners. Below is an extract of parts
of the speech:
Lifelong Learning: Our Next Phase of Development
We will build on these foundations to create a new environment for lifelong learning. It is
critical to our future. It will develop the skills and mastery needed to take our economy to the
next level. More fundamentally, it aims to empower each Singaporean to chart their own
journey in life, and gain fulfilment at work and even in their senior years.
We have called this development effort ‘SkillsFuture’. It marks a major new phase of
investment in our people, throughout life:

It starts in school, where all students will receive education and career guidance to
help them discover the various pathways available, and make informed choices about
their future.

They will be able to engage in deeper and more structured internship programmes,
particularly in our Institutes of Higher Learning, to excite them about possible career
pathways.

Once in the workforce, Singaporeans will be able to acquire deeper skills relevant to
their jobs, as well as renew themselves by going back to education in the course of
their careers.

We will support these continuous engagements in learning. We will provide
enhanced subsidies for courses, as well as special support through SkillsFuture Study
Awards, and SkillsFuture Fellowships for those pursuing mastery in their fields.

These specific initiatives will be underpinned by a lifelong SkillsFuture Credit
which every Singaporean will receive. This will be topped up at regular intervals with
credits that they can use to help pay for courses of their choice. Every Singaporean
can use the SkillsFuture Credit to take charge of their own learning over the course of
their lives.
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It will involve new modes of learning – such as short modular courses, weekend
workshops, and learning online through Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). It
will include executive and specialist development programmes, and on-the-job
training both in individual firms and ‘industry campuses’.

It will also involve new types of educators and trainers, including industry
practitioners, besides our academics. Developing this new landscape of learning will
take time and resources, but we must put full effort into this. MOE and WDA will
enhance existing accreditation frameworks for this purpose for courses within the
education and training industry.

We must make it possible for every individual to decide on his or her own learning
journey: when to go for fresh infusions of skills or knowledge, and whether it should
be in specialised professional training, acquiring soft skills, or developing a new
interest.
With the implementation of the full package of measures under SkillsFuture, we estimate that
spending on continuing education and training will increase from about $600m per year over
the last five years, to an average of over $1 billion per year from now to 2020.
I will also top up the National Productivity Fund by $1.5 billion this year to partly meet this
increase in expenditure.
SkillsFuture Credit
We will create a SkillsFuture Credit for all Singaporeans. NTUC and several Members of
Parliament previously have suggested a scheme of this nature.
Each Singaporean 25 years old and above will receive an initial credit of $500 from 2016.
We will make further top ups to their SkillsFuture Credit at regular intervals. These credits
will not expire, but can only be used for education and training.
We have decided to spread out the top-ups over the course of a person’s life for two reasons.

First, there is no need for anyone to rush to use their credit. While some may use their
initial $500 immediately for a short programme, others may want to accumulate
credits to engage in more substantial training later in their career.

Second, we need time to develop quality offerings in our SkillsFuture landscape that
are relevant to jobs and individuals, and that employers find relevant.
The SkillsFuture Credit can be used for a broad range of courses supported by government
agencies. These will include courses offered by our Institutes of Higher Learning and
accredited education and training providers, as well as a range of courses that are funded by
the WDA.
To complement this, every Singaporean will be given an online Individual Learning Portfolio
– a one-stop education, training, and career guidance resource to help them plan their learning
starting from their time in secondary school.
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SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme
To cater to fresh graduates from our Polytechnics and ITE, we will launch a SkillsFuture
Earn and Learn Programme in 2015. It will give them a head start in their careers.
The graduates will be matched with suitable employers. They will start working and undergo
structured on-the-job training and mentorship, while they study for an industry recognised
qualification.
Both trainees and employers who sign up for this programme will receive substantial support
from the Government. This will be done in a phased way, eventually covering up to one in
three polytechnic and ITE graduates.
Support for Mid-Career Singaporeans
We will enhance subsidies for mid-career Singaporeans.
First, education and training subsidies for all Singaporeans aged 40 and above will be
enhanced to a minimum of 90% of training costs for courses funded by MOE and WDA.
This additional support from the Government recognises the opportunity costs that midcareer Singaporeans face when they go for education and training.
These subsidies are significant:

For a part-time undergraduate course such as a Bachelor of Engineering, which is
already subsidised, the total fees payable by a student will be reduced by 60%, from
about $17,000 to $6,800.

Second, Singaporeans will now be able to enjoy multiple subsidies from MOE for
modular courses and at all levels, and regardless of age. This flexibility of modular,
continuous learning will help individuals, who will often have to balance family and
career together with their learning.
We will implement these enhanced subsidies in the second half of this year.
Targeted Support for Career Progression
Beyond the SkillsFuture Credit and these broad-based subsidies, we will provide special
support for Singaporeans seeking to develop deep skills in particular fields.
First, we will introduce SkillsFuture Study Awards. They will support individuals who wish
to develop the specialist skills required for our future growth clusters. For example, they may
include software developers, satellite engineers or master craftsmen. The awards can also
support those who already have deep specialist skills and wish to develop other competencies
such as business and cross-cultural skills. At this stage, we are not setting a cap on the
number of study awards, but it should eventually be about 2,000 per year. We will introduce
the SkillsFuture Study Awards in phases, starting this year.
Second, we will introduce SkillsFuture Fellowships, to develop Singaporeans to achieve
mastery in their respective fields. We will award about 100 fellowships a year, which can be
used for a range of education and training options, in both craft-based and knowledge-based
areas. It will be funded from the SkillsFuture Jubilee Fund, which will be funded by
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voluntary contributions from employers, unions, the public and the Government. Their
involvement signifies everyone being a stakeholder in this. The SkillsFuture Fellowships will
be introduced from 2016.
The SkillsFuture Study Awards and Fellowships will be mainly used to develop deep skills
and mastery in the growth clusters of the future. But we will be open to those who want to
develop themselves in fields that they are really passionate about. Take individuals like
Edwin Neo, for example. He was trained in interior design, but developed a passion for
making high quality European-style shoes. He went to train under a master shoemaker in
Budapest and came back to found his own company. He is doing well, selling both ready-towear shoes and upmarket bespoke creations.
Finally, we will work with companies to grow Singaporean corporate leaders under the
SkillsFuture Leadership Development Initiative. This initiative will provide support for
companies who commit to developing a pipeline of Singaporeans to take on corporate
leadership roles and responsibilities in the future.
A New Industry Collaboration
A key challenge in SkillsFuture is to help uplift a significant base of our SMEs, and involve
them in this process of skills development. This will not happen naturally – many of our
SMEs lack their own training capacity and are unable to plan for the future.
To uplift the broad base of companies, and to help Singaporeans develop their careers across
our economy, we need new forms of industry collaboration.
We will strengthen collaboration between training institutions, unions, Trade Associations
and employers to chart out future skills needed, and plan systematically to develop these
skills in our people. Training may take place in our educational institutions, in our lifelong
learning institutes, at industry campuses, or on the job. We will work with all stakeholders to
develop and implement these comprehensive Sectoral Manpower Plans (SMPs) in all key
sectors by 2020.
We will also work with our industry partners to develop a shared pool of SkillsFuture
Mentors. These will be people with specialised, industry-relevant skills, which SMEs can tap
on. They will help SMEs overcome the constraints they face in training capabilities and
capacity. We will start rolling out this scheme this year for industry mentors in sectors that
are more ready, such as the Retail, Food, and Logistics sectors.

Adapted from the SkillsFuture website http://www.skillsfuture.sg/speeches.html/lbudgetspeeche-2015.html
There has been much discussion in the media with regard to SkillsFuture. Many issues in
relation to SkillsFuture have been debated in the discussions. The two articles provided below
reflect some of the discussions regarding this issue in Singapore.
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In about 750 words, write a synthesis essay on the SkillsFuture. You will need to narrow
this broad topic. You must formulate a thesis about this issue and provide evidence that will
support your thesis. The thesis for this TMA01 is a viewpoint that does not have to be
persuasive – that is, it is the conclusion you arrive at based on summarising and synthesising
the information you researched on this topic. Relevant information for you to gather would
be:
• Issues (economic, social, educational and etc.) surrounding SkillsFuture
• Evidence for SkillsFuture
• Evidence against SkillsFuture
• Improvements to existing measures
(100 marks)
Guidance Notes
1. Use process writing to develop a rhetorical structure for your essay.
2. Strengthen your thesis with relevant examples and illustrations.
3. You may include any additional but relevant information to the ideas that have already
been given in the scenario and articles.
4. You should use at least 5 research sources to help you write your essay. The given
articles are considered as a separate research source each and can count towards the 5
research sources. Synthesise information from these various sources in your writing.
5. You are to use credible and reliable sources to help you write this essay. Evaluate
information critically from various sources in your response. Marks will be deducted for
non-credible and unreliable content.
6. Remember to use accurate grammar, correct sentence structures and a tone appropriate to
academic writing. Cite sources in your writing using the proper citation and referencing
style. Marks will be deducted for poor English.
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Article 1:
A good range of schemes to enhance lifelong learning
Section:
OPINION
By:
CALVIN YANG
Publication:
The Straits Times 21/03/2016
Page:
A20
No. of words: 546
The Singapore Perspective
Be it career counselling advice for students hoping to chase their dreams or subsidies for midcareer Singaporeans looking to pick up new skills, a range of initiatives has been rolled out
under SkillsFuture.
The number of schemes introduced is assuring for those who want to fulfil their aspirations.
Here are just a few of them.
EDUCATION AND CAREER GUIDANCE
Education and career guidance will be available for students as well as adults. Individuals
will, among other things, discover their passions and abilities. From primary schools to
universities, institutions have adopted measures to help students make decisions on such
matters.
EARN AND LEARN PROGRAMME
The Earn and Learn scheme, designed for fresh polytechnic and Institute of Technical
Education (ITE) graduates to work and gain qualifications at the same time, is gaining
traction.
Since last April, the scheme has been rolled out in phases – starting with sectors such as food
manufacturing and logistics.
In the programme, participants get job training, work on projects or even go on overseas
attachments for 12 to 18 months.
They may work for four days a week and devote a day to studies. At the end of the
programme, an ITE graduate gets a diploma and a polytechnic graduate receives an advanced
or specialist diploma.
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ENHANCED INTERNSHIPS
Institutions such as the polytechnics and ITE have started sending students on longer and
more structured internships. These have clear learning outcomes and better mentorship and
are part of their full-time diploma courses, Nitec, or Higher Nitec courses.
Unlike in the past, internships now allow students to take on more meaningful activities such
as projects with their attached firms. All polytechnic and ITE courses will have enhancements
to their internships by 2020.
SKILLSFUTURE CREDIT
More than two million people can now use $500 in credit each to pay for skills-based classes.
Over 12,000 courses are available to Singaporeans aged 25 and above. The credits do not
expire and will be topped up at various intervals, so they can be accumulated for more
expensive courses.
SKILLSFUTURE STUDY AWARDS
Early to mid-career Singaporeans can tap on the awards for fee subsidies for courses to
develop skills needed by future growth sectors. The awards, worth $5,000 each, are bond-free
and can be used on top of existing Government course subsidies. Up to 2,000 awards will be
handed out yearly.
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Article 2:
Singapore Business Review
COMMENTARY
HR & EDUCATION | CONTRIBUTED CONTENT, SINGAPORE
PUBLISHED: 06 JAN 16
Can SkillsFuture boost your mid-career employability?
BY ADRIAN TAN
Many Singaporeans, including myself, had been waiting fervently for 2016.
Because this is the year SkillsFuture credits would kick in.
In case you have been living under a rock since 2015 budget announcement, SkillsFuture is
“a national movement to enable all Singaporeans to develop to their fullest potential
throughout life.” SkillsFuture will enable you to take advantage of a wide range of
opportunities – to help you realise your aspirations and attain mastery of skills.
This is made possible via SkillsFuture credits which individuals could use to offset approved
training courses. Study awards are also provided for “strategic growth areas” to further
encourage adoption. And you have the Earn-And-Learn initiatives which the government
polytechnics are playing catch up on announcing.
Excitement has been building since the announcement in February 2015. SkillsFuture appears
to be the next big thing since the introduction of Productivity and Innovation Credit (PIC).
Similar to PIC, the amount of monies invested in it is in the billions. From 2016 to 2020, a
total of SGD5 billion would be pumped into this initiative. That is a lot of money.
SkillsFuture for mid-career professionals
Many discussions have been centred on earn-and-learn programs for diploma and ITE
undergrads. We are looking at functions from accountants to information systems developers
to hoteliers.
That is all good. Our younger generation would need all the help they can get to navigate the
unfamiliar job market. But what about the mid-career segments?
According to the labour force 2014 report by Ministry of Manpower, the number of
unemployed residents from the 30 years and above is standing at 52,200. To provide some
perspective, the next measured group of 15 to 29 is at 29,500.
I am unsure why they start from 15 in the first place. I would think a 20 to 29 would be a
better means of comparison.
Anyway, here are the exact segments used by MOM:
15 – 29
30 – 39
40 – 49
50 & over
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