SINGAPORE: Singapore will have two more universities -- the Singapore Institute of
Technology (SIT) and the SIM University (UniSIM) -- bringing the total number
of national universities to six.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong,
in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, said this will mean that by 2020,
40 per cent of each school-going cohort will be able to have a university
education, higher than the current 27 per cent.
UniSIM is a private institution
which runs full-time and part-time courses, while SIT has high quality foreign
partners such as DigiPen and Technical University of Munich.
The government will build on
their strengths and branding as institutions that have been working closely
with industry and emphasising practice-oriented teaching.
With growing demand for
university places among Singaporeans, Mr Lee said the government will increase
full-time places for applied degrees at SIT and UniSIM.
He said: "Last year, I
tasked (Senior Minister of State for Education, and Information, Communications
and the Arts) Lawrence Wong to study this issue, and he concluded that we
should create more university places.
"But that we should focus on
applied, practice-oriented degrees, for example, engineers, physiotherapists,
social workers -- skills which are useful, which are in demand, which will help
to get the graduates jobs -- and we should not just churn out graduates,
regardless of the quality or employment opportunities."
The addition of SIT and UniSIM as
Singapore's fifth and sixth universities will open up 3,000 more full-time
places per year by 2020 -- from 13,000 to 16,000.
This means four in 10 students of
each cohort will be able to get a university education.
For part-time students, Mr Lee
has also pledged greater support for them by making more part-time places
available.
Mr Lee said part-time students at
UniSIM will now be eligible for government bursaries and loans, like their
counterparts at the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological
University.
He added that he hopes
Singaporeans will take advantage of this -- not just to collect a piece of
paper, but develop themselves and make a contribution to society.
Moving to the other end of the
spectrum, Mr Lee said the government will play a more active role and invest
substantial resources in pre-schools.
It will bring in new anchor
operators in addition to the PAP Community Foundation and National Trades Union
Congress.
Following suggestions from
observers and experts to centralise government efforts in regulating the
sector, the government will set up a new statutory board to oversee pre-school
education.
Currently, the Ministry of
Education oversees kindergartens, while the Ministry of Community Development,
Youth and Sports governs childcare centres.
However, Mr Lee said the
government will not nationalise the pre-school sector, as a mix of operators
offers diversity and choice.
He said: "Pre-school is to
teach certain skills which are best learnt at that age, for example, languages,
social skills, basic motor skills."
He added that education and child
development experts warn against "over teaching" pre-school children.
"No homework is not a bad thing," Mr Lee said, adding that it is good
for young children to play and learn through play.
Prime Minister Lee said Singapore
must always offer hope of a better future, and education is vital to creating
hope for a better tomorrow.
He said education is Singapore's
most important long-term investment in its people, and it is a key response to
the changing world.
- CNA/al
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment