Universities
A renaissance of sorts
Taking the cue from the government, Singaporean parents have been on the forefront. By Seah Chiang Nee.
Dec 29, 2007

RESPONDING to a society that worships academic achievements, resource-poor Singapore is finalising plans to set up a fourth university.

The past decade has marked Singapore as one of the world’s fastest growth stories, on a per capita basis, when it comes to sending its youths to university.

Taking the cue from the government, parents have been on the forefront of this educational renaissance, many of them sacrificing much to send their children for higher studies even in times of recession.

The best-paid civil service and political posts are reserved for top scholars, a great attraction for many.

The system, a legacy of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, is apparently modelled along that of ancient China that used nationwide exams to select the best candidates to serve the emperor with promises of great wealth.

“This may not be the perfect way to gauge ability, but its the best tangible means to do so,” Lee once explained about high grades.

This has set the tone not only to chase after a university degree – but a top level one.

Singapore is, of course, not alone in this pursuit. Countries like Japan, South Korea and now China, including Hong Kong, are also in the race and enjoying economic successes.

As a result Singapore has been transformed from a backwater, in which some 60% of workers were once illiterate or had only primary education, to a cosmopolitan of highly educated youths.

Today some sort of reversal has taken place. At least six out of 10 babies born today will probably end up as graduates.

This is especially true of Singaporean women, who outnumber men in university and even outshine them in some fields.

Last year about 22,000 Singaporeans graduated – roughly 12,000 from the three local universities and 10,000 overseas – compared to a birth rate of 36,000.

(Of the 10,000 overseas Singaporeans, some 6,000 go to Australia, with most of the rest choosing the United States and Britain with 1,500 each.)

Ten years ago, these figures would have been adequate, but not today with a Singapore that hungers for technological skills to compete with modernising rivals like China and India.

Besides, the population has risen sharply during the past decade.

In addition, the city wants to become an education hub, attracting 150,000 foreign students to study here by 2012.

The fourth university, whatever the form, will do like all the others, reserving 20% of the seats for foreign students, most coming from China, Malaysia, India and other South-East Asian countries.

The quota was raised from 10% in 1999.

Singapore already has three universities that cover most of the professional and engineering needs of a modern city. They are:

* NATIONAL University of Singapore (NUS) = 28,000 students. Medicine, law and social skills, etc;

* NANYANG Technological University (NTU) = 25,000 students. Engineering and business skills; and

* SINGAPORE Management University (SMU) = 5,400 students. Management skills.

In addition, it has another mostly part-time one – Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) – with 6,300 students, many of whom are working adults.

The proposed fourth full-time university is not just about pushing up numbers.

It will allow people more choices of study to meet the demands of a 21st century high-end economy at subsidised costs.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong says its objective is to allow 30% of each cohort to get into publicly funded universities by 2015, compared to 23% currently.

Lee is, of course, referring only to local graduates, excluding an estimated 10,000 Singaporeans who study abroad.

The general public is exuberant about the prospect of another institution.

Many parents are very worried that the large inflow of foreigners may deprive their children of a university education.

Rising fees are an issue. Another publicly funded university is sorely needed to alleviate rising costs.

The government believes that it should be different from the existing three universities and is soliciting public views on the sort of university it should have.

A strong case is being made to make it a liberal arts institution to provide general knowledge and intellectual skills (e.g. languages, literature, history, philosophy) rather than occupational or professional skills.

One suggests it should produce entrepreneurs, while another wants it to address the technical and creative needs of Singapore’s new gaming and resort future.

“This industry will need all-round skills for service professionals, new IT abilities for casino and online gaming, graphics, back-end processing and a host of creative game designers and engineers,” he added.

Achievements in higher studies in such a short history have been Singapore’s success story. However, it suffered several recent setbacks.

The first was its efforts to woo foreign universities. Britain’s Warwick University decided not to set up a campus here, alleging a lack of political freedom, and Australia’s University of New South Wales pulled out after failing to attract sufficient students.

Then came its decline in the world of university rankings. NUS dropped from 19th to 33rd and NTU from 61st to 69th in the 2007 Times Higher Education world rankings.

The public exuberance is tempered by a fear of possible excesses. Will a recession result in a large number of unemployed graduates in Singapore?

Some recall the economic crisis that threw some 6,500 graduates out of work in 2000.

A foreign post-graduate student gained headlines when, after numerous failed attempts to get a job, she became a hawker selling chestnut.

Singaporeans are striving to prepare for the day when even a hotel receptionist must have a university qualification.

That may not be too far away.

(This article was published in The Star, Malaysia on Dec 29, 2007)