Closure of UNSW Asia and Private Education
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mdm Halimah Yacob, Jurong GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) whether the Ministry was informed in advance of the closure of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and, if so, whether more could have been done to prepare the affected students; and (b) what assistance has the Ministry extended to the affected students in securing fair compensation from UNSW for their losses and in securing places in local institutions.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mdm Cynthia Phua, Aljunied GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education, in the light of the exit by University of New South Wales (UNSW) from Singapore, (a) what are the safeguards the government can offer to students enrolled with foreign institutions here from being left in the lurch; (b) whether these institutions are required to post any financial bond with the Ministry to ensure their specific performance; and (c) whether the Ministry is aware of any student taking legal action against UNSW for breach of contract.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Lily Neo, Jalan Besar GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education when will his Ministry set up a national accreditation body to assess and monitor the quality of private schools in Singapore.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Christopher de Souza, Holland-Bukit Timah GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education in view of the recent closure of UNSW's campus in Singapore (a) how many schools have closed in the past five years due to financial problems; and (b) what will the Ministry do to ensure that private schools/education institutions have feasible business plans and sufficiently robust financial positions to enable them to meet their education obligations to their students.
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Hong Kah GRC
Question (Single Spacing)
To ask the Minister for Education whether his Ministry will consider providing tertiary fee subsidies similar to those provided for students at local universities, to those pursuing their degrees at accredited privately-run tertiary institutions as well as those run in collaboration with foreign universities.
Response
1. I wish to thank Mdm Halimah Yacob, Mdm Cynthia Phua, Dr Lily Neo, Mr Christopher de Souza and Mr Zaqy Mohamad for their questions on the closure of UNSW Asia and related issues regarding private educational institutions.
2. The Minister for Trade and Industry had earlier provided a comprehensive reply on negotiations between MTI and UNSW. MOE was informed of UNSW’s decision to close its Singapore campus two days before the public announcement on 23 May 2007. As soon as we learnt of UNSW’s decision, our top priority was to help the affected students. MOE worked with EDB, the three Singapore universities and several private education providers to provide options for affected students who wished to remain in Singapore to pursue their degree programmes.
3. The three Singapore universities – NUS, NTU and SMU – and the private education providers set up a one-stop centre at the UNSW Asia campus to facilitate enquiries and applications by affected students.
4. Taking into account the suddenness of the situation and to help the affected students, the three Singapore universities extended their deadline for application for this academic year to 4th of June. They received applications from 231 UNSW Asia students and considered these applications case by case on the basis of merit. 24 UNSW Asia students received offers from the universities.
[The original deadline for application for NUS and NTU was 1 Apr 07, and that for SMU was 10 Apr 07.]
5. These efforts to assist students provided them with additional options besides the offer by UNSW of places in its Sydney campus. To date, we understand that 116 out of the 143 UNSW Asia students from the March 2007 intake have opted to continue their course of study at UNSW in Sydney.
6. MOE does not have information on students taking legal action against UNSW.
7. Turning to the question on safeguards for students raised by Mdm Cynthia Phua, private education providers which enrol foreign students are required to attain CASETrust for Education certification. CASETrust-certified private schools are required to protect students’ fees by purchasing tuition fee insurance. Alternatively, these schools may set up an Escrow account into which students pay tuition fees in advance, which the bank will disburse in instalments. In the event of school closure, unused tuition fees will be returned to the students.
8. Foreign university branch campuses such as UNSW Asia are not required to be CASETrust-certified because they are reputable institutions with university status accorded by their home countries. It is also common practice for such institutions to collect tuition fees on a semestral basis. This makes CASETrust’s student protection measures unnecessary. In the case of UNSW Asia, it fully refunded the tuition fees paid by its first batch of students for the period after its closure. It also refunded the deposits paid by students who had not begun their programmes of study.
9. From MOE’s records, 18 private commercial schools have closed in the past 5 years, for a variety of reasons. In many cases, the schools stopped taking in new students and only closed after seeing through their final intakes. As such, students were not adversely affected. In other cases, the schools sought alternative programmes for their students to transfer to.
10. Mr de Souza asked if the Government can ensure that private education institutions have sound business plans. It is not possible for Government to ensure the success or financial robustness of any business venture. In the event of private school closures, our priority is to assist the affected students and minimise disruption to their studies.
11. Going forward, as I announced at the last Committee of Supply in March 2007, MOE is looking at the feasibility of introducing a new regulatory framework for the private education sector that would, amongst other possible changes, enhance student protection measures.
12. Mr Zaqy Mohamad asked about providing fee subsidies to students in privately-run tertiary institutions to pursue degree programmes. MOE has no plans to do so at this point in time.
Special Needs Officers
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Dr Fatimah Lateef, MP for Marine Parade GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education with the recent announcement of having special needs officers in primary and secondary schools, whether there will be plans to have these officers available for assessment of preschool and kindergarten pupils, as many manifestations such as attention deficit disorder, autism and dyslexia are detectable during the preschool years.
Response
Role of SNOs in Schools
1. The primary role of Special Needs Officers (SNOs) in mainstream primary and secondary schools is to provide support and intervention for pupils who have been diagnosed with mild to moderate special needs such as dyslexia or autistic spectrum disorder so that these pupils can have access to education in our mainstream schools. To date, a total of 81 SNOs have been deployed to 57 primary schools and 13 secondary schools. These SNOs provide individual support for these pupils in the normal classrooms, as well as train them in specific skills, such as literacy or social skills in small groups.
2. However, the diagnosis and assessments of children with special needs require the specialist knowledge of psychology or psychiatry. The SNOs are not trained to conduct these assessments. However, they and our teachers can make referrals to the professionals if they notice children who may be exhibiting signs of learning difficulties.
3. The assessment of children with special needs in the mainstream schools is mainly done by psychologists in MOE or by clinicians in the Child Guidance Clinic at the Institute of Mental Health.
Identification of Children with Special Needs in Preschools
4. For the preschool children, the identification and diagnosis is carried out by the Child Development Units (CDUs) in KKH and NUH. This is because at this age, a child’s physical, social, mental and language skills are developing. It is therefore important that the evaluation and input of professionals from multiple disciplines, including pediatricians, child psychologists, speech and language therapists as well as physio-therapists and occupational therapists (to develop the child’s motor skills) are all taken into consideration to arrive at an accurate assessment. The inputs of other medical and allied health specialists, including geneticists, neurologists, and nutritionists may also be needed in some cases.
5. To help teachers understand children with learning difficulties, MOE requires the pre-service training for pre-school teachers leading to certificate or diploma includes modules on special needs.
6. Furthermore, there is an annual seminar for child-care practitioners. The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports has incorporated topics on special needs and inclusion in this seminar. Child care centre staff are familiar with the current protocol for detection and referral of children with mild learning disabilities. Once a child with special needs is detected, the centre would advise the parents to seek professional help at the CDUs.
7. MOE will continue to support MCYS and the Ministry of Health on early intervention for pre-school children with special needs.
