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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.