These include a new diploma programme and study awards.
They are part of a S$52 million plan by the Economic Development Board and SPRING Singapore to develop the sector.
Craftsmen usually hone their skills on the factory floor, but some will be heading back to school for a new Precision Engineering Master Craftsmen Programme at Nanyang Polytechnic.
They will spend two years on the part-time course on specialised and advanced technical skills training.
When they graduate, they can expect to earn S$4,000 to S$5,000, higher than the S$2,900 that most craftsmen get.
They are also expected to help take the industry to the next level.
The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) will also set aside S$6.1 million to fund the programme.
Graduates will leave with a Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) Diploma in Precision Engineering (Master Craftsman Skills) and the WSQ Specialist Diploma in Precision Engineering (Master Craftsman Skills). In addition, WDA is also setting aside about S$1.3 million in absentee payroll funding. This is on top of the S$52 million funded by the National Productivity Fund.
Ho Hooi Min, senior director at Nanyang Polytechnic's School of Engineering, said: "Right now, there are many very skilled craftsmen in the precision engineering company, but in order to increase the productivity in this industry, we need a new breed of people.
"These are people who can be the shop floor leader, who can be the trainer, and do a lot of what we call different processes improvement."
Chang Chin Nam, director for Precision Engineering at the Economic Development Board, said: "The precision engineering workforce has to upgrade itself, in order to compete in the future...with the rest of the world. One of the ways to do so is to ensure that our workforce continues with upgrading.
"The Precision Engineering Master Craftsmen Programme therefore fulfils this role in the sense that it will impart in our workforce highly complex skills that are required today in our industries and going forward."
The target is to produce some 2,800 master craftsmen in 10 years.
Meanwhile, a hundred study awards will be given out to those studying precision engineering at the Institute of Technical Education, to attract more young people to the industry.
The awards will cover tuition fees and provide a monthly allowance of S$500. Award holders will then be required to work in the industry for two years. The initiative also includes an on-the-job training programme.
- CNA/cc/ms
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