SINGAPORE, 27 April 2023: Temasek Polytechnic (TP), a leading institution of higher learning in Singapore, has entered into a tripartite memorandum of understanding with global professional services company Accenture and Singapore-based learning technology company Kydon Group to design and develop programs that equip adult learners with relevant skills for the digital economy. The collaboration which will help lay the groundwork for the nation’s strategy to upskill its workforce for the future, will also be extended to other countries in South-East Asia.

In a first across all Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) in Singapore, the programs will focus on the needs of adult learners who are yet to meet the Minimum Entry Requirements (MERs) for selected Temasek Polytechnic Specialist Diploma courses offered under its Continuing Education and Training (“CET”) curriculum. Interested learners will now have the option to take short courses developed by Accenture Academy, which will automatically qualify them for Temasek’s modules without the need for aptitude tests or interviews. The curated AA content will be made available on ZilLearn, Kydon’s e-learning platform. The programs to be developed will be made accessible, affordable and achievable to cater to the Singaporean workforce in their goal to achieve meaningful and relevant learning outcomes (please refer to Annex for further information).

The collaboration was announced at an event held at the Accenture Innovation Hub at Raffles City Tower this morning and was graced by Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information.

SMS Tan said, “Partnerships between our IHLs and industry are crucial in equipping adult learners with up-to-date, industry-relevant tech skillsets to seize exciting job opportunities in Singapore’s digital economy, regardless of their starting point or educational background. The collaboration between Accenture, Temasek Polytechnic and Kydon Group is a meaningful step to create more career pathways for Singaporeans.”

“To unlock greater value and growth in the digital economy, every nation and every business need to be net creators of talent. Our collaboration with Temasek Polytechnic and Kydon Group supports Singapore skilling agenda and expands Accenture’s commitment to talent creation and building a future ready workforce for the country’s growing digital economy. Accenture Academy, an immersive learning platform serves as a fundamental building block, providing learners with anywhere, anytime access to tailored micro-learning content that is closely aligned to Singapore’s Continuing Education and Training (CET) Masterplan,” said Wee Wei Ng, Market Unit Lead, Southeast Asia at Accenture.

“Businesses today are required to rethink upskilling, embrace flexibility and deliver purpose-driven work to respond to the changing dynamics of their workforce, job demands and to stay competitive. The partnership of Temasek Polytechnic, acting through its School of Informatics & IT, with Accenture and Kydon will identify the industry’s demand and skills required for the future of work as it evolves and, develop tailored training programmes that will effectively address the needs of workforces and workplaces as they prepare for changes, big and small,” said David Yeo, Chairman and CEO, Kydon Group and ZilLearn​.

The three companies also announced their plan for subsequent phases to widen the partner ecosystem by inviting other academic bodies and industry associations to support the skills building initiative by creating awareness for the importance of continuous skills development to build a resilient workforce and drive economic growth. 

Accenture and Temasek Polytechnic will also explore collaborations with other companies to offer internship and employment opportunities to those graduating from these programs.

Mr Peter Lam, Principal and CEO of Temasek Polytechnic said, "We are delighted to be part of this tripartite collaboration, which is aligned to our vision of supporting CET and reskilling workers for the future. Our partnership with Accenture and Kydon enables us to establish a pathway for individuals to reskill and upskill more easily. Individuals who have completed relevant courses from the Accenture Academy will now be able to complete Stackable Modular Certificates at TP. Through this collaboration, we are able to provide more adult learners with access to a wider range of courses and opportunities, thus enhancing their employability and enabling them to succeed in their careers."

- END -

About Accenture

Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading businesses, governments and other organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance citizen services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent and innovation led company with 738,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. We are uniquely able to deliver tangible outcomes because of our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Accenture Song. These capabilities, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients succeed and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

About Kydon Group and ZilLearn

Kydon Group, established in 2012, is a leading digital learning technology company headquartered in Singapore offering advanced learning technology solutions and custom digital learning content. Since its inception, it has served a wide spectrum of clients ranging from government agencies, enterprises, education institutions to non-profit organisations. Kydon Group’s learning and employability platform is a revolutionary proprietary solution administered by ZilLearn which provides learners with relevant and contextualised online courses in line with the needs of industries and business. The platform also offers training providers with a powerful content authoring tool to enable massive and rapid creation of online courses. For more information on the ZilLearn global marketplace please refer to: https://www.zillearn.com/ bout Kydon Group

About Temasek Polytechnic

Established in 1990, TP is one of the leading institutions of higher learning in Singapore. Currently it offers 36 full-time diploma courses in the areas of applied science, business, design, engineering, humanities & social sciences and informatics & IT. It also offers over 40 part-time courses, up to the advanced diploma level. TP students undergo a holistic learning system that combines hands-on experience, character education and relevant life skills, in an enriching learning environment. The Polytechnic has also infused global realities into its programmes and developed a mindset on campus that embraces socio-cultural diversity. Believing in the possibilities of tomorrow, Temasek Polytechnic is committed to co-creating a better world with its stakeholders by nurturing the next generation of values-centred leaders, lifelong learners and future-oriented creators. For more information, please visit 

https://www.tp.edu.sg

For more information, please contact:

Yasmin Quek

Corporate Communications Lead for Southeast Asia, Accenture

Yasmin.quek@accenture.com

+65 9049-4273

Nalini Naidu

Principal Publicist, The Rainmaker Marketing Group (for Kydon)

nalini.naidu@therainmaker.com.sg

+65 9633-3198

ANNEX

Further information on how the programmes will be developed to keep them accessible, affordable and achievable to cater to the needs of the Singaporean workforce.

Accessible - Accenture Academy (AA) will bring forth its wealth of industry training content to which the group will jointly curate a learning path and identify content that will complement Temasek Polytechnic’s Specialist Diploma courses. The curated AA content will be made available on ZilLearn, Kydon’s e-learning platform.  Any participant from the Singapore workforce may sign up for easy access to the AA content.

Affordable – Singaporeans will be able to utilise their SSG individual and enterprise SkillsFuture credits to pay for these courses. The courses will be made available for a duration of 12 months (or more) helping learners complete the programmes at a comfortable pace.

Achievable – The ZilLearn platform has built-in data-driven capabilities that can assist learner to identify adjacent skills gap for specific roles to create a personalised learning pathway to empower and accelerate the individual’s desire for achievable outcomes.