SINGAPORE – The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) will open a new social work school, building on its existing programmes and introducing a revamped curriculum to address workforce shortfalls, attrition, and burnout in the social work sector.
Promising opportunities for more pathways after graduation and career development, the School of Social Work and Social Development will open its doors in the third quarter of 2025, SUSS provost Robbie Goh told the media on March 21.
The school, which will be located in the SUSS campus in Clementi, will be the university’s sixth and newest school. Other schools under SUSS include the Schools of Business, Law, and Science and Technology.
SUSS has existing social work programs, but these will be expanded to include more specialisations, said Professor Goh. He also announced that Dr Vincent Ng, the chief executive of non-profit organisation Allkin Singapore, will be the dean of the school.
It will continue to offer the existing three part-time social work programmes – the Bachelor of Social Work, Graduate Diploma in Social Work and Master in Social work – and the full-time Bachelor of Social Work programme.
The part-time programmes will have two admission intakes a year – in Jan and July – and the full-time programme has one intake in August.
While no new courses will be introduced, Prof Goh said that there will be a revamped curriculum that “looks forward and will train social workers of the future”. This allows students to specialise in various areas like protection, elder care, disability services, family social work, juvenile justice and correctional settings.
The curriculum will also include graduate-level courses to help social workers grow in their careers, and courses for those who want to switch to different areas within social work or develop new skills like counselling, psychology, management, or digital skills.
Students will also get enhanced practicum experience – a short-term supervised training experience — with industry partners in their chosen field.
At the post-graduate level, two specialised tracks will be offered – Policy and Management and Professional Clinical Practice – to develop thought and practice leaders in the sector.
SUSS will continue to offer reskilling opportunities for those entering the social work profession, with stackable graduate offerings that align with the university’s model that supports adult learning.
Currently, SUSS admits 250 students into its undergraduate and graduate programmes, and supports upskilling and mid-career switches to the social work sector. However, Prof Goh said there will be a loss of more than 200 social work professionals by 2030 due to attrition.
“In the social work sector, there is burnout and a certain degree of loss of direction, I suppose, after a certain point, and lack of awareness of opportunities, lack of support, a lack of interest on the part of the public,” he said.
Prof Goh hopes that the establishment of the school will “allow us to do a lot more to help this very, very important sector.”
SUSS is one of two universities in Singapore – the other being the National University of Singapore – that offers undergraduate and graduate social work degree programmes.
The establishment of the new school is part of broader efforts to boost the social service sector.
Since 2015, the National Council of Social Service has instituted regular reviews of salaries in the social services sector, and together with the Ministry of Social and Family Development, has issued guidelines to ensure the salaries of various roles in the sector remain competitive.
It has also launched national awards to recognise the work of social service professionals, offers scholarships and study awards to undergraduates, and encouraged more to join the sector through Workforce Singapore Career Conversion programmes.
To Mr Samuel Ng, founder of social service organisation Montfort Care, the new school is a “dream come true” and a morale booster for professionals.
As social work is a practice that requires expertise from other courses like sociology and psychology, Mr Ng believes that with the opening of the school, learning will become more holistic as practices are consolidated.
He hopes that the school will impart clinical skills to students, more than just theoretical knowledge.
“It is easy to understand a textbook, but it is very difficult to apply it,” he said, referring to skills like listening, empathy, non-verbal body language, and tone of voice.
“These are all important skills, because they will determine whether your social worker is an effective change agent or not,” Mr Ng said. “You have to train and train until this becomes a part of you.”
While there has to be a “realistic expectation” about what the school can achieve, he believes that the school will provide more resources and better strategic development for the sector.
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