13 January 1999

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1. The International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP) held its second meeting in Singapore from 10 to 13 January 1999. Panel members visited the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). They also met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Dr Tony Tan, who is also the Minister in-charge of universities; Minister for Education RAdm (NS) Teo Chee Hean; officials from the Singapore Management University (SMU), the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the National Science and Technology Board (NSTB); and representatives from industry.

2. The IAAP is chaired by Dr Yeo Ning Hong, Chairman of PSA Corporation Limited, and comprises 13 distinguished academics and heads of universities and industry from around the world. The Vice-Chancellor of NUS and the President of NTU serve as ex-officio members. Annex A provides a list of the members.

3. After a day of visiting the universities and two days of deliberations, the Panel presented its views at a Press Conference held at the Ritz-Carlton on 13 January 1999. The Panel’s comments are summarised as follows:

a. The Panel commended NUS and NTU for their progress made in the areas of teaching and research since the inaugural meeting held in August 1997. It welcomed the various schemes introduced to broaden undergraduate education, including a core curriculum and cross-faculty modules at NUS and a requirement for academic units outside a student’s major field at NTU. It noted the establishment of several new research institutes and centres and encouraged the universities to continue pursuing multidisciplinary approaches in research and teaching.

b. The Panel was pleased to note that the universities have embarked on initiatives to foster the training of entrepreneurs, in particular, technopreneurs. These initiatives will support the next stage of Singapore’s development into a first-league country. Specifically, they are also consistent with the strategic intent of Singapore to transform itself into a knowledge based economy.

c. The Panel felt that the establishment of the private university, SMU, was a move in the right direction. Besides increasing the range of opportunities for university education, SMU would have the autonomy to explore innovative approaches to education. The Panel noted that SMU’s city-campus concept would allow it to develop a closer nexus with businesses in the implementation of its degree and executive programmes. d. The Panel reiterated its belief that the quality of academic staff is vital for a university to achieve its aim to be world-class. It felt that apart from the recent initiative to re-designate teaching staff as Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors, the remuneration package should also be made more flexible to be able to attract top-calibre staff. The Panel proposed that the universities study the feasibility of a salary system that reflects market differentials in remuneration of talent in the various disciplines, rather than be uniform across disciplines. It also suggested that the universities explore having a remuneration system that is performance-related, so that staff are rewarded according to merit and work accomplished.

e. The Panel felt that the universities should be given more autonomy in the management of funds provided by the Government, while maintaining a good system of accountability for the use of public funds. The current financial system, which is closely tied to civil service practices, has served the universities well. However, there could be scope to give the local universities greater flexibility, as had been done for universities overseas. The Panel also recommended that the universities increase their independent efforts to source for additional funds to further enable them to achieve their research and teaching missions, rather than rely to such a large extent on government funding.

f. The Panel concurred with the approach taken by the Committee on University Admission System. It agreed that the universities need to move beyond their present sole reliance on the GCE A-Level results in order to admit and prepare graduates ready for the knowledge economy and society of the next century. It felt that a more holistic evaluation involving academic and non-academic measures would be beneficial. It also agreed that the Committee’s preliminary recommendation of a combination of A-Level results, SAT I scores, project work and performance in extra-curricular activities was a move in the right direction. These requirements would help universities identify well-rounded students who would benefit most from a university education, and would send a positive signal throughout our education system and society about the qualities that future graduates should embody.

4. The Panel will meet again in Singapore in the year 2001 to continue its review of university education in Singapore.

Members Of The International Academic Advisory Panel
CHAIRMAN
Dr Yeo Ning Hong
Chairman
PSA Corporation Limited
Singapore

Mr G Leonard Baker, Jr.
Managing Director
Sutter Hill Ventures
USA
Professor Antonio Borges
Dean
European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD)
France
Professor William R Brody
President
Johns Hopkins University
USA

Professor Sir Alec N Broers
Vice-Chancellor
University of Cambridge
UK
Professor Robert A Brown
Provost
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
USA
Professor Dr Hans-Uwe Erichsen
President
Confederation of European Union Rectors’ Conferences
Germany

Prof Leo Esaki
Chairman
Science and Technology Promotion Foundation of Ibaraki
Former President
University of Tsukuba
Japan

Professor Tsutomu Kimura
President
National Institute for Academic Degrees
Professor Emeritus
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Japan

Professor Jeremy R Knowles
Dean
Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Harvard University
USA

Professor Joseph S Nye, Jr.
Dean
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
USA

Professor Dr Konrad Osterwalder
Rector
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich
Switzerland

Admiral William A Owens
Vice Chairman
Teledesic LLC
USA
Sir Ronald Oxburgh
Rector
Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine
UK

Professor Lim Pin
Vice-Chancellor
National University of Singapore
Singapore
Dr Cham Tao Soon
President
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore