Singapore's social and economic development is dependent upon a continually expanding base of skills and vocations in commerce, service and industry. Technical training is indispensable for skilled employment. The technical preparation required for employment increases with pressure for higher productivity.

Pre-employment technical training is provided by vocational institutes of the Vocational and Industrial Training Board and the Joint Training Centres of the Economic Development Board. In the 1970s, the objective was to provide basic semi-skilled pre-employment training. In the 1980s the objective is to upgrade institution-based training to the full skilled level in combination with supervised field training (SFT).

Technical training is increasingly undertaken by employers, individually and in association. Financial assistance from the Skills Development Fund is a major factor promoting technical training.

To highlight the importance of technical training, a set of four stamps in the values of 10¢. 35¢ 50¢ and 75¢ will be released on 11 Apr 81. The stamps illustrate the job functions of a metal machinist, construction worker, woodbased tradesman and electrical technician. These are basic skilled occupations on which Singapore's growth has depended and will continue to depend.