27 July 2007

Singaporeans have priority in university admission

1. I refer to Ms Mei Ying's letter “Dragon Year children who were refused admission to university” (5/7).
2. The Ministry of Education (MOE) provides for publicly-funded places in the universities based on a target percentage of the Primary 1 cohort. The larger dragon year cohort has been taken into consideration when we increased the number of university places this year. As a percentage of the Singaporean cohort, the number of places has gone up this year to an estimated 23.5%, compared to 20.8% in 2000 and about 15% in 1990. We will therefore not see a greater proportion of 'A' level students missing out on university education this year, as suggested by Ms Mei Ying.
3. Ms Mei Ying was concerned about the larger number of applications for university admission this year. Due to separate university admission exercises, students can choose to apply to all three universities. A large proportion of applications were by students making multiple applications.
4. Ms Mei Ying also suggested that the number of places set aside for foreign students be reduced. We assure Ms Mei Ying that there is no quota reserved for foreign students. What we do have is a cap that limits the number of foreign students to 20% of the total student population. The 20% cap includes foreign students educated in local junior colleges and polytechnics. In practice, the universities admit fewer foreign students in courses where there is strong demand from Singaporeans, and more in other courses.
5. Local universities have been selective in offering places to foreign students. This year, places were offered to 4,218 or 18% of the 22,933 foreign students who applied. For local students, places were offered to 14,781 or 51% of those applying.
6. Our universities admit good foreign students to create vibrancy and diversity in the campuses that will benefit and spur on our own students. This helps to ensure that our students receive a quality university experience. Without this international orientation, our universities will not be the first class institutions that Singaporeans deserve.
7. We will continue to increase the number of publicly-funded university places to achieve the planned target of providing subsidized university opportunities for 25% of the cohort by 2010.

Perry Lim
Director, Higher Education
Ministry of Education