Source: TR EMERITUS
Gan: FT medical staff taught local lingos for 30 hrs
April 18th, 2014 | Author: Editorial
Last Monday (14 Apr), Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong posed a question in Parliament. He asked Health Minister Gan Kim Yong about language training for foreign healthcare professionals working in public hospitals.
Mr Yee asked:
Mr Gan replied that Singapore’s public healthcare institutions have put in place programmes to familiarise foreign healthcare staff with the local clinical practice, language and cultural contexts, so as to help them adapt to the local working environment.
He said that these programmes cover a broad spectrum of topics, including:
“Language courses are also provided where necessary to enable better patient-staff communication,” Mr Gan said.
These include training in basic conversational Mandarin, Malay and Chinese dialects and the training duration per course is about 30 hours or more over several weeks.
“In addition, institutions also run orientation programmes for all new employees,” he said.
Mr Gan assured the House that almost all staff participated in the orientation programmes.
About 35% of foreign staff recruited in the last 5 years have participated in at least 1 language programme, he clarified.
“Some of the foreign staff have been in Singapore for some time and are already familiar with our language and culture, and therefore do not need to attend such programmes,” he added.
“Our public healthcare institutions will continue to encourage foreign healthcare staff to attend such programmes, and to explore more ways to help them adapt to their working environment, so that they can better contribute towards the delivery of public healthcare in Singapore.”
Reader "Gan-ning for an answer"'s Comment:
If 30 hours can make an FT expert in local Mandarin, Malay and Chinese dialects, then the entire MOE Language Department staffs should be sacked and replaced by such MOH language trainers….
As usual GKY is giving us daft answers and making a mockery of his ministerial position.
ONE MORE THING, what is the international English proficiency standard healthcare FTs need to possess in order to be considered for recruitment into Singapore?
Is it based on IELTS (International Englsih Language Testing System) or TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Langauge), two of the internationally recognized English language proficiency standards? If our world class MOH does not use these two world class standards, WHY NOT? Then what is the standard MOH uses?
Australia requires all foreign nurses and doctors aspiring to work in Australia to have an IELTS score of 7.
Can GKY tell us Singaporeans what English language standard he requires of foreign nurses and doctors?
Gan: FT medical staff taught local lingos for 30 hrs
April 18th, 2014 | Author: Editorial
Last Monday (14 Apr), Non-Constituency MP Yee Jenn Jong posed a question in Parliament. He asked Health Minister Gan Kim Yong about language training for foreign healthcare professionals working in public hospitals.
Mr Yee asked:
To ask the Minister for Health:
(a) what content is covered in the language, orientation and immersion programmes for foreign healthcare professionals and what is the duration of such programmes;
(b) how many foreign healthcare staff have attended these programmes each year in the last five years; and
(c) what percentage of total foreign healthcare staff does this participation represent.
(a) what content is covered in the language, orientation and immersion programmes for foreign healthcare professionals and what is the duration of such programmes;
(b) how many foreign healthcare staff have attended these programmes each year in the last five years; and
(c) what percentage of total foreign healthcare staff does this participation represent.
Mr Gan replied that Singapore’s public healthcare institutions have put in place programmes to familiarise foreign healthcare staff with the local clinical practice, language and cultural contexts, so as to help them adapt to the local working environment.
He said that these programmes cover a broad spectrum of topics, including:
- Singapore’s history, culture, policies and regulations
- overview of healthcare in Singapore
- workplace safety
- practical resource information
- general advice for living and working in Singapore
“Language courses are also provided where necessary to enable better patient-staff communication,” Mr Gan said.
These include training in basic conversational Mandarin, Malay and Chinese dialects and the training duration per course is about 30 hours or more over several weeks.
“In addition, institutions also run orientation programmes for all new employees,” he said.
Mr Gan assured the House that almost all staff participated in the orientation programmes.
About 35% of foreign staff recruited in the last 5 years have participated in at least 1 language programme, he clarified.
“Some of the foreign staff have been in Singapore for some time and are already familiar with our language and culture, and therefore do not need to attend such programmes,” he added.
“Our public healthcare institutions will continue to encourage foreign healthcare staff to attend such programmes, and to explore more ways to help them adapt to their working environment, so that they can better contribute towards the delivery of public healthcare in Singapore.”
Reader "Gan-ning for an answer"'s Comment:
If 30 hours can make an FT expert in local Mandarin, Malay and Chinese dialects, then the entire MOE Language Department staffs should be sacked and replaced by such MOH language trainers….
As usual GKY is giving us daft answers and making a mockery of his ministerial position.
ONE MORE THING, what is the international English proficiency standard healthcare FTs need to possess in order to be considered for recruitment into Singapore?
Is it based on IELTS (International Englsih Language Testing System) or TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Langauge), two of the internationally recognized English language proficiency standards? If our world class MOH does not use these two world class standards, WHY NOT? Then what is the standard MOH uses?
Australia requires all foreign nurses and doctors aspiring to work in Australia to have an IELTS score of 7.
Can GKY tell us Singaporeans what English language standard he requires of foreign nurses and doctors?
