SINGAPORE - To enable lifelong learning and encourage upskilling and reskilling, the five community development councils (CDCs) are jointly holding a week-long event for Singaporeans and residents.

Over 50 online workshops, webinars and masterclasses will be available for those interested.

The programmes, available in various languages from next Monday (Aug 10) to Aug 16, will focus on skills that may come in handy during the Covid-19 period.

The topics covered will include, for example, professional advice on employability such as how to prepare for virtual interviews; lifestyle to in-demand tech skills like personal grooming or video editing; and SkillsFuture Advice workshops from targeted industries.

Services like career coaching will also be available, as well as a site where fresh graduates and working adults can access various job search platforms with over 10,000 job vacancies.

Four of the district mayors - Ms Low Yen Ling (South West district), Ms Denise Phua (Central Singapore district), Mr Desmond Choo (North East district) and Mr Alex Yam (North West district) - held a media conference on Friday (Aug 7).

They were joined by others including SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) chief executive Ong Tze-Ch'in, Employability and Employment Institute (e2i) chief executive Gilbert Tan and chief executive and founder of artiste management company FLY Entertainment Irene Ang.

Ms Low, who is Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, as well as for Trade and Industry, said the topics that will be covered are "tactical and current, and set in the context of Covid-19".

"Having relevant and up-to-date skills, not just ones in a vertical domain such as artificial intelligence, but also soft skills like interview skills or even making videos - all these will enable Singaporeans and our residents to be in a good position to secure employment or to stay gainfully employed."

Ms Phua added that "learning agility is the new currency to survive and thrive in this new age", and learning today is no longer confined to classrooms or official school years.

"The ability to drive one's own learning and to learn for life is the 'new normal'. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of digital platforms in many aspects of our lives," she said.

SSG's Mr Ong said the collaboration between the CDCs will bring the SkillsFuture national movement closer to the community.

Employability and employment has been a common a source of concern, he added, noting that many events have revolved around that theme.

"We hope that the programme will be useful and relevant for the residents, and they can take this chance to seek out new opportunities in this Covid-19 situation," said Mr Ong.

The virtual week-long event by the CDCs is held in conjunction with SkillsFuture Month, which started on July 17 and runs till Aug 16.

Some sessions will be conducted live by trainers, with residents having to sign up beforehand, though there will not be a cap on the number of attendees.

Some programmes will be screened via Facebook Live, and the videos will stay up even after the sessions.

Members of the public may visit this website from today to sign up for the workshops for free.

Separately, NTUC LearningHub will be offering a slew of new free courses on its online learning platform LHUB GO from Friday.

This is in celebration of National Day, and in partnership with Go1.com, an online training provider.

NTUC LearningHub said it had previously worked with Go1 to launch 100 free courses in April this year, and it will be extending public access to those courses for six months, until Feb 7 next year. Popular courses include digital marketing, data analysis and Python coding.

Another 100 new courses have also been added for NTUC Union members, available over the same time period.