SINGAPORE: The SkillsFuture portal experienced “intermittent disruption” on Tuesday (Dec 30), a day before S$500 worth of credits is set to expire.
SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) said on Wednesday it was experiencing a “system issue” and that it was working to resolve it.
“Please be assured that your SkillsFuture Credit claim, including expiring credits, will be approved once the system is up. We will notify you to submit your claim when the system is up,” said SSG in a Facebook post early Wednesday.
CNA began receiving reports that the MySkillsFuture website was down from as early as about 10.20pm on Tuesday.
A notice on the MySkillsFuture portal on Wednesday morning warned users that some digital services may face intermittent disruption. It advised users to visit https://sfc.myskillsfuture.gov.sg/claim to submit their SkillsFuture credit claims.
The disruption came as Singaporeans rushed to use their one-off S$500 SkillsFuture credit top-up before it expires on Dec 31, with training providers reporting last week that demand has jumped sharply – in some cases by as much as seven times.
As of September, about seven in 10 eligible Singaporeans had not used their SkillsFuture credit top-up.
The SkillsFuture credit top-up was given to Singaporeans aged 25 and above in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is separate from the first tranche of SkillsFuture credit of S$500, which all Singaporeans aged 25 and above received and which will not expire.
Singaporeans aged 40 and above also get a mid-career training allowance of S$4,000 in SkillsFuture credit that does not expire.
SkillsFuture credit can be used to offset fees for eligible courses on the MySkillsFuture online portal.