Vocational and technical training in Singapore has a relatively short history. Only after Singapore became independent did the need to formalize a national system of training to support the labor force needs of industrialization become evident. Singapore's first vocational institute was established in 1964. The system has experienced several significant phases of development, the most recent being the upgrading of vocational training to a postsecondary institution under the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in 1992. Among the ITE's principal functions are the following: preemployment training for secondary school leavers; full-time institutional training; apprenticeship training; continuing education and training for working adults; worker education; worker skills training; industry-based training; customized skills training; certified on-the-job training (OJT) through the Certified OJT Training Centre Scheme; and responsibility for conducting national certification and public trade tests. Singapore's vocational and technical training system faces a number of challenges and constraints. The major factors shaping technical education and training in Singapore are as follows: the country's limited natural and human resources; the declining rate of growth of the work force; large numbers of older workers with lower levels of education and skills; increasing global competitiveness; and the continual upgrading and restructuring of the country's industries. (MN)