SINGAPORE – He meant to additional his research after graduating from the Institute of Technical Schooling (ITE) in 2016, however Mr Muhammad Syurhan Ja’afar did his nationwide service (NS) as an alternative.
“I wanted the cash,” mentioned Mr Syurhan, 25, who was already dwelling aside from his household then.
He managed to earn a diploma six years later, with the assistance of the Infocomm Media Growth Authority’s (IMDA) TechSkills Accelerator (TeSA) initiative geared toward equipping employees with in-demand tech abilities.
He’s now working at tech agency Racks Central’s information centre right here.
Mr Syurhan was talked about in Minister of State for Communications and Info Tan Kiat How’s speech in the course of the debate on his ministry’s price range final Friday.
Mr Tan had shared plans by the Authorities to assist polytechnic and ITE college students and graduates kick-start their careers within the tech sector.
These embrace offering the scholars and graduates with end-to-end help via internships whereas they’re in faculties and apprenticeships at corporations.
Graduates can additional their research and deepen their experience via schemes below TeSA, such because the SkillsFuture Work-Examine programmes – which was what Mr Syurhan did to earn his diploma.
However his path to the ICT sector was fraught with challenges.
He and his three siblings began dwelling with their grandparents when he was in major faculty.
His mother and father had divorced when he was 9, along with his mom gaining custody of the youngsters.
She was later arrested in Japan and continues to be serving a 10-year jail time period there. He doesn’t know what she was convicted of.
He moved in with a good friend’s household when he was about 15 years outdated.
“I felt that my grandparents’ home was squeezy,” he mentioned, including that he wished some private area.
To make ends meet whereas learning, he labored part-time in McDonald’s and took on odd jobs.