Deliveroo Singapore today announces the expansion of its Rider Academy to offer more than 1,500 courses to self-employed riders and their families for free. The new global partnership with online education platform Lynx Educate, offers an extensive range of educational courses that will be delivered by more partners such as OpenClassrooms and The Open University.
Echoing Singapore’s Focus on Upskilling For Sustained Productivity in Economy
In efforts to meet Singapore’s productivity growth targets, the Government has cast a spotlight on the crucial need for upskilling and continual transformation – where workers must learn new skills and embrace new technologies. The unveiling of the SkillsFuture Level-Up programme, designed to generate better employability outcomes and as announced during the Budget earlier this year, further supports this endeavour.
With this growing demand from the workforce for such initiatives, the lack of upskilling may result in a gap in Singapore’s economic competitiveness. As such, Deliveroo’s partnership with Lynx Educate is set to bring together various learning providers and higher education institutions into an easy-to-use platform for the self-employed riders who choose to work with Deliveroo. This enables them to conveniently access a wide array of online courses and advisers to help reach their career goals, at their own time and pace.
Riders can choose from over 1,500 online courses delivered by the likes of The Open University, OpenClassrooms and Chegg Skills, and can study flexibly around their work. For many riders, working with Deliveroo is a stepping stone to other work opportunities and they will be able to access a range of courses covering business management, coding, data science, project management, and photography, amongst others.
In addition, the Deliveroo Rider Academy will offer more advanced vocational and academic courses upon successful application, designed to provide the riders and their family members with higher qualifications. Such examples include courses such as ‘Web Developer – Skills Bootcamp’.
One of the highlights of this programme is the opportunity for riders to extend this benefit to their family members. All of the offered courses are fully sponsored by Deliveroo, demonstrating the company’s dedication to supporting the growth and development of its riders.
Strong Interest Among Riders For Continued Education
Since the launch of Rider Academy in Singapore in 2019, riders in Singapore have undertaken over 600 courses on the platform. Digital skills have proven to be a key area of interest as the country pushes forward its Smart Nation initiative, with courses ‘Learn Python Basics for Data Analysis’, ‘Build Your First Web Pages with HTML and CSS’, and ‘Discover Digital Marketing’ emerging top among riders in the city.
Deliveroo Rider, Muhamad Rashid, 31, who also works as a Quick Response Officer in the security industry, is a keen advocate for upskilling. Having attended over 700 hours of OpenClassroom courses across the past two years, he is a firm believer in lifelong learning and futureproofing his career.
“I have a Diploma in Game Design, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to brush up on my technical skills with the free upskilling courses, much thanks to Deliveroo and OpenClassrooms. Even though I work in a completely different sector now, it’s always good to have options and be open to possibilities in shifting industries. You won’t know what the future will hold, so it’s best to always be prepared by learning as much as you can.”
In addition to offering a wide range of short courses free of charge, riders can also apply for six-month intensive scholarship programmes provided by OpenClassrooms – which is equivalent to an associate degree level of education. These riders have further demonstrated their strong ambition and dedication to continuous learning and growth.
Mohamed Nizamudeen, 46, was the first Deliveroo rider in Singapore that had completed the OpenClassroom scholarship last year. Having a background in marketing, he took up OpenClassroom’s Diploma in Digital Marketing course to supplement his prior knowledge.
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“I was very heartened when I first heard that I was enrolled in Deliveroo Rider Academy’s scholarship programme. I always had plans on landing a job in marketing so I’m sure this Diploma will be helpful in my resume as I expand my skill set within the industry. I understand how competitive it is out there, so I’m very thankful to Deliveroo for their support in my professional career growth.”
Commenting on the strong demand for upskilling courses among riders, Jason Parke, General Manager, Deliveroo Singapore said, “It has been a joy to see how plenty of our riders in Singapore have warmly received the Rider Academy since it was first launched in 2019. Deliveroo is more than just a food delivery company – we want to continuously cultivate and foster a culture where our riders are encouraged to upskill themselves, which is very aligned with the Government’s call for greater productivity too. Our partnership with Lynx Educate is a strong testament to our commitment to the growth and development of our riders, and we look forward to seeing more of them pursue their aspirations with the expansion of our course offerings.”
Sylvie Milverton, CEO and co-founder of Lynx Educate further added, “Lynx is proud to partner with Deliveroo to manage its Rider Academy to offer learning opportunities to riders, as well as their family members. By leveraging our extensive network of educational partners on our platform, they will now have access to participate in meaningful learning programs and explore their career interests. We share Deliveroo’s commitment to offering education as a way to support and show appreciation for their valued riders.”
