SINGAPORE: Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Amrin Amin on Friday (Mar 2) revealed that the Singapore Corporation of Rehabilitative Enterprises (SCORE) will be launching several initiatives to enhance the employability of inmates.

SCORE provides skills training, job placement, job coaching and job retention support to help ex-offenders reintegrate into the workforce.



“Firstly, SCORE will introduce a job profiling tool to assess and coach inmates more effectively,” said Mr Amrin. “Secondly, SCORE will extend job retention support from six to 12 months. In other words, inmates can have a job coach for a year after their release.”

“Thirdly, SCORE will offer WSQ (Workforce Skills Qualifications) Advanced Training under the WSQ Culinary Skills framework. This will equip inmates with vocational skills in demand by potential F&B employers. And we will consider having WSQ Advanced Training in other sectors.”

He also noted that 97 per cent of inmates (2,143 out of 2,201) who were referred to SCORE in 2017 secured a job before their release, with more than 5,500 employers registered with SCORE.

According to MHA, 4,653 offenders received SCORE training in 2017. Inmates may pick up generic skills such as digital literacy, problem-solving and communications, or opt for occupation-specific WSQ courses in industries such as F&B and logistics. Last year, 443 offenders received digital literacy training in how to use common smart devices such as tablets.



The Singapore Prison Service and SCORE also introduced a pilot programme last year to provide two advanced WSQ training courses - the “Certified Operations Professional” course, which leads to jobs in the warehouse and logistics industry, and the “Operate Forklift” course.

Since the pilot started in May 2017, 86 per cent of the inmates selected for the pilot managed to secure jobs. About 27 per cent of them are earning a starting salary of at least S$1,600, compared to 15 per cent for inmates without advanced WSQ qualifications.

Since August last year, ex-offenders also have access to an online job portal, which allows them to search for suitable jobs and apply for job vacancies directly.