Endless red tape over aid for retraining
FOLLOWING the call by the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) for retraining and skills upgrading, I signed up in January 2007 at One Education Services (OES) for a diploma in preschool education, which consisted of five modules.
I applied for funding support for the full course but unknown to me, OES amended my application to the first three modules only. I received the amended reimbursement some 15 months after I had completed the first three modules.
The red tape over my appeal for funding for the last two modules has been arduous and frustrating. I completed the five-month modules in May last year. After many e-mail messages and phone calls seeking an update on my appeal, I received an e-mail from an NTUC-linked group in April this year, telling me my appeal was only just being considered and asking me to submit documents.
Subsequent calls to NTUC for an update were ignored or elicited the standard reply that my message was noted and an officer would call me back.
Finally, four months later, an officer returned my call and asked me to re-submit my application documents. He said he was not handling my case, which would be sent to WDA and he did not know how long WDA would take to reply.
The Government encourages workers to retrain and upgrade, but 15 months after I completed the course and fulfilled all requirements, OES is still withholding my certificate because of a funding glitch not of my making.
The NTUC Call Centre appears ill- equipped to handle specific queries, leaving applicants in the dark. Template replies to specific queries, instead of a contact to facilitate the process, do not describe a service quality befitting NTUC.
Ng Sok Hwang (Ms)
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