No SPM certificate?
Now, since GSC admin said this phrase “HELLO. CANNOT.” and popularized by netizens, let’s see what you CANNOT do if you don’t have SPM certificate.
1. Generally, you are not able to work in any government agency@appointed to any government position as most of it requires a min pass in SPM or equivalent, except for very few positions that only require PMR/PT3 or talents.
2. You CANNOT further your study directly to an MQA accredited diploma program in higher education institutions if no SPM certificate. However, there are few other options for you to further study, to be shared later.
3. You CANNOT be an air stewardess/steward@cabin crew@flight attendant. As I know, SPM is a MUST (or at least it’s equivalent eg: GCE O-Level)
4. Your chances of employment in Singapore is at a disadvantage as the government of SG requires a min in SPM or equivalent for employers to hire you at a lower levy. Here are some figures for you (2016 data)
If foreign workers account for 25-40% of your company, and if you don’t have SPM, then the levy would be S$700. 10-25% would bring it to S$550, and those below 10% would be S$420. (With SPM, the amount would be cut by S$100, and so on) – according to Verna Ling, a Malaysian’s experience working in Singapore.
How to Overcome It?
1. Well, if you really insist to be in the public sector@government servant, you only have one choice. Resit for whichever paper that you failed in your SPM (usually it is BM or Sejarah). My personal opinion, just forget about it. Be a freelancer, self made entrepreneur or join the private sector. Work harder in the field that you like, it should be more rewarding than being a ‘clean’ government servant.
2. This is the core of this website’s focus, skills/TVET education. Further study options if you fail SPM in BM version can be found here. So, what can you do if no SPM certificate?
a) Take up a skills/TVET program that you have interest/good at.
Eg. you may like cooking, repairing electronic items at home, heavy interest with cars and it’s mechanics. So naturally, courses that suits you could be culinary, industrial electronics and automotive technicians respectively.
And if you’re into more IR4.0 courses, you can also consider mechatronics, application development, drone piloting and so forth.
You could still have a good career, if not brighter than those academic graduates.
b) So what’s next after getting skills certificate@Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM)? Good news is that you can also further to an executive degree or academic Bachelor or Masters degree later in life.
c) With SKM, the world is yours. Not just Singapore, you will be surprised that it’s widely accepted worldwide, by countries like UAE, China, Australia (basically Commonwealth countries)
d) If you don’t intend or have the heart to study now, no problem. You may work for few years first to gain industry experience and when ready to further study, you may take up APEL A examination to gain entry to study Bachelors (21 yeas old and above) or Masters Degree (30 yeas old and above) at selected Universities.
