A move to officially accredit skills picked up by soldiers during their national service will help boost buy-in for conscription, but not necessarily their employability, said human resource and defence experts.

They were reacting to a move announced last week by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to certify skills learnt during NS.

“Servicemen sometimes feel that they are disadvantaged as they have to ‘postpone’ their education for NS, so it’s good that we’re giving them proper credentials for their training now,” saidMr David Leong, managing director of recruitment firm PeopleWorldwide. “It also shows that the armed forces is an advocate for continuous learning.”

… Defence analyst Ho Shu Huang of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies said the fact that such training is good enough to be certified by an external agency speaks well of the training standards of the Singapore Armed Forces and Home Team.