About SAF Education Office (SEO)
The operational environment and challenges faced by the SAF raised
the competency demands on our people and the organisation. There is
a need to equip our people with the ability to assimilate new skills
and knowledge quickly, while still remain grounded as effective
leaders and warriors. Thus, the SAF Nurturing Framework was
implemented in 2008 to nurture the cognitive potential of our
leaders, and seek to maximise their potential through holistic,
progressive and continuous development in the 3 pillars of
Professional Military Education and Training (PMET), Continuing
Education (CE) and Leadership Development (LD).
With the Nurturing Framework as the backdrop, the Continuing
Education Project Office, established in 2007 with the task of
developing the SAF CE Masters Programmes with Nanyang Technological
University, was reorganised and renamed into the SAF Education
Office (SEO) in 2010. SEO became the coordinating agency in the SAF
to oversee the planning, synchronising and implementing PMET and CE
Programmes for the development of the SAF Officer, WOSpec and
Military Experts. SEO provides, and continually explore, academic
and professional upgrading opportunities for SAF Regulars and
partners closely with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and
external professional agencies on programmes and initiatives towards
academic and skills certifications/ qualifications in the domains of
PMET and CE.
Professional Military Education & Training (PMET)
Through military education and training, PMET in the SAF equips our
SAF Regulars with foundational knowledge and skills, and enhance
their competency to perform military specific functions and tasks.
Such PMET courses are conducted in the SAF – whether it is Route of
Advancement Courses in SAFTI Command Schools or Rotation Training
conducted by the Training Institutes - allows our people to perform
their task as a Military Professional. They impart relevant skills
and knowledge to perform the military job occupational
specialisation, deepen the military profession and inculcate the
desired values, behaviours and attitudes. In the area of PMET, SEO
works with the Subject Matter Experts to ensure that the content
taught in SAFTI MI Command Schools in the 5 domains of Strategic
Environment, National Security, Military Operations, Organisation
and Management, and Leadership, remains relevant.
Continuing Education (CE)
Continuing Education focuses on nurturing and enhancing the
cognitive potential of our people. CE also fosters a life-long
learning culture among the SAF Regulars. MINDEF/SAF values CE and
has in place various provisions to support our Regulars in their CE
endeavours in the 3 areas of academic qualification, skills
upgrading or personal development. In terms of academic
qualification, the SAF has various in-service sponsorships and
awards, ranging from Continuous Learning Academic Sponsorship Scheme
(CLASS) Award and Military Domain Expert Scheme (MDES) Study Award
(MSA), the SAF Academic Award, or the CE Masters; For Skills
Upgrading, SAF Regulars can subscribe to courses such as Continuing
Professional Education (Instructional) (CPE(I)) or Foundational
Sports Science Courses; while Competency Development Courses are
short 1 – 2 day personal development courses for all Regular
Military Personnel. Courses available under the CE initiatives are
curated based on the various frameworks such as the SAF Leadership
Competency Model, critical skills needed for the future such as
Leader Development 2040, or emerging industry needs. SEO continues
to explore and embrace relevant and pragmatic new approaches in CE
such as modular part-time programmes, stackable short courses in
emerging domains or Work-Learn scheme tie up with IHLs that could be
accredited to a specialist professional certification, and online
learning courses.
CE Opportunities in the SAF
Key Programmes and Initiatives
SAF Continuing Education Master’s Programme (SCEMP)
The SAF CE Master’s Programme is designed to equip eligible SAF
Officers with a Master’s Degree through full-time and/or part-time
study post-Command and Staff Course (CSC)/ Command and Staff
(Executive)(CSC(E) at the Goh Keng Swee Command and Staff College
(GKS CSC). Officers have a variety of Master’s Degree Programmes to
choose from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National
University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore Management University (SMU)
and Singapore University of Social Science (SUSS). In addition,
non-graduate SAF Officers attending CSC/ CSC(E) can enrol into
Bachelor’s degree programmes from SUSS as part of this initiative.
Attending the programmes will expose the SAF Officers to the latest
ideas and practices in their chosen field, beyond their jobs in the
SAF. These programmes will develop well-rounded leaders who are
equipped to meet the increasing complexities and dynamic challenges
of the new security environment.
For more information about the SAF-NTU programmes, please visit:
http://www.sna.ntu.edu.sg
For more information about the SAF-NUS programmes, please visit:
https://scale.nus.edu.sg/programmes/graduate/msc-in-industry-4.0
For more information about the SAF-SMU programmes, please visit:
https://saf.smu.edu.sg
For more information about the SAF-SUSS programmes, please visit:
https://www.suss.edu.sg/part-time-undergraduate/minor-courses
SAF-SUSS Part-Time Degree Programmes
The SAF-SUSS Part-Time Degree Programme allows non-graduate SAF
Officers, Warrant Officers and Military Experts to attain a degree
with SUSS. Eligible SAF personnel will be sponsored for part-time
local studies with tuition fees and approved charges paid for. Under
this programme, SAF personnel can choose from a range of SUSS
undergraduate degree programmes. They may also choose to do a degree
with a minor in Military Studies. Completion of SAF PMET courses
such as the previous UGPMET programme (where applicable) for junior
Officers, and the CSC/ CSC(E) for mid-level Officers, will earn
credits towards the SUSS undergraduate degree./p>
For more information about the SAF-SUSS programmes, please visit:
https://www.suss.edu.sg/partnerships/type/government-agencies/singapore-armed-forces
Diploma and Certificate Programmes
CLASS Award and MDES Study Award (MSA) allow our WOSpecs and
Military Experts respectively to upgrade themselves by pursuing
Certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Specialist Diploma or Degree
studies, either on a part-time or full-time basis. SEO collaborates
with Polytechnics on their Continuing Education and Training (CET)
programmes to provide academic/ skills upgrading opportunities in
various relevant domains. There are also collaboration with the
Institute of Technical Education (ITE) on Work-Learn Technical
Diploma programme based on Work-Study arrangement. SEO continually
works with the Polytechnics to recognise the job experience and
training of our servicemen and women. Together with universities
like Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and SUSS, SEO is
already seeding and working on stackable pathways from Diploma to
Degree/ Post-graduate studies.
Military Studies and Geopolitics Programme (MSGP)
The SAF engages academics and lecturers from the S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies (RSIS) to conduct lessons on
military studies and regional geopolitics for selected SAF courses.
The MSGP lessons enable the SAF Regulars and NSFs to better
understand the role of the military as an institution, and provide
the contextual and historical background on the conduct of military
operations. Regional geopolitics lessons provide our people with an
awareness of trends and developments in ASEAN, Southeast Asia and
the Asia Pacific as well as an understanding of the major defence
and strategic issues confronting Singapore. It will also help our
people to make sense of their operational environment and to
understand the wider strategic implications of their actions.
Military Education Research and Consultancy (MERC) Programme
Tapping onto the wider academic ecosystem of NTU, SEO runs the
Military Education Research and Consultancy (MERC) Programme. This
programme aims to fill the research capability gap in the SAF, and
provide academic research and insights to some of emerging areas and
issues in the areas of (1) Leadership, (2) Operational Learning, (3)
Military/ Strategic Studies, (4) Military Technology, and (5)
Military Learning Sciences. Insights or lessons identified from the
academic research will be shared with the SAF. Interested parties
may approach SEO to explore research topics in these 5 areas of
interest.