Press Releases
Advisory Panel Endorses Continuing Investments in Higher Education System As Vital For The Future
The Ministry of Education (MOE)’s International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP) has expressed strong support for Singapore’s strategy of continued investment in creating distinctive educational institutions and programmes for an integrated higher education system, as Singapore increases the university cohort participation rate from the current 26% to 30% by 2015.
The IAAP notes that the development of Singapore’s higher education system has reached a watershed. Singapore has done well in leveraging on its network of international partners, judiciously learning from more developed countries, and playing catch–up. While this strategy has worked well for Singapore in the past, today it is increasingly innovative and moving ahead of the curve. When the new institutions and programmes are fully implemented, Singapore could be poised to have a truly distinctive tertiary education system, with applications globally. This will contribute significantly to the country’s economic growth.
The IAAP commends the excellent progress made by the existing autonomous universities (AUs) – the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management University (SMU) – in continuously innovating in their education and research programmes to produce high–quality graduates and research outcomes. The IAAP supports the healthy balance of competition and collaboration among the various educational institutions, even as each institution seeks to distinguish itself in its offerings and competes for students and faculty.
The IAAP applauds Singapore’s continued commitment to invest in research, innovation and enterprise. Research funding from agencies, such as MOE, the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), have helped universities to grow their research enterprises. The IAAP endorses Singapore’s steps towards establishing a more sustainable model of university funding, with appropriate support coming from multiple sources, including Government grants, student fees, research grants and income from endowment funds.
Progress of Singapore’s University System
The IAAP notes that since its last meeting in 2008, NUS, NTU and SMU have made remarkable progress in becoming world–class research–intensive universities, without neglecting their key mission of providing a strong foundation in undergraduate education through a student centric approach. Individually, each AU has succeeded in bringing talent into the system – be it students or faculty, both local and international. As a system, it has generated intellectual and social capital which has contributed to the vibrancy of Singapore and drawn top talent to the country. In pursuing their development strategies, each AU would need to distinguish itself from the others and continually assess its progress against various metrics, including benchmarking its progress against peer institutions.
University Research Enterprise
The IAAP strongly endorses the Singapore Government’s continued investment in Research and Development through the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) 2015 plan. The stability of investments in research has been critical to Singapore’s success to develop one of the most attractive research environments for scientists worldwide. It has also allowed our universities to grow a strong research base over the years and become assets for our Singapore R&D eco–system.
The IAAP emphasises the importance of maintaining a balanced portfolio in research funding, with adequate attention paid to investigator–led research, anchored by the universities, across a wide range of disciplines. The IAAP also emphasised the value to the economy of producing more high–quality PhD graduates and post–doctorates. Funding schemes should attract more talent into those programmes, including schemes that give selected candidates the full flexibility to choose their fields of research. This will serve as a foundation for further knowledge creation and set the stage for strong economic returns to Singapore through commercialisation of this knowledge in the longer term.
The IAAP recognises that there is a strong symbiotic relationship between the university sector and industry. Both work in tandem to seek commercial applications for research done at the universities and, in this regard, the IAAP is heartened that the AUs have established strong links with industry. The IAAP recommends that there be a healthy flow of human capital between the universities and industry as this will prove instrumental to the sustainable growth of both sectors.
New Projects and Developments in Singapore’s University System
The IAAP view is that the development of Singapore’s higher education system has reached a watershed. It started by adapting from established educational models but is now making bold moves to pioneer new ones. This approach of differentiation leverages on its ability to build a network of international collaborations with quality institutions. The new and distinctive institutions, together with the established universities, will add new educational pathways for Singaporeans and produce high quality manpower to support Singapore’s future economic and social needs. They will also be critical in Singapore’s talent augmentation strategy in the face of keen competition in the region.
In particular, the IAAP is impressed by the progress made in establishing three new institutions, built on the foundation of a strong tertiary education system, comprising both the polytechnics and universities. The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), the new Imperial College London – Nanyang Technological University Medical School (ICNMS) and the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT).
- SUTD’s innovative educational model, which incorporates design and interdisciplinary learning as unifying themes in its curriculum, is a potential paradigm–shift for engineering and architecture education and research globally. The IAAP notes that while such an educational approach is potentially powerful, it has yet to be successfully implemented in any other part of the world partly due to the inherent difficulties of working within established universities. Therefore, SUTD’s ability to innovate from a clean slate as a new institution will be instrumental to its success. In addition, SUTD’s partnerships with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Zhejiang University will allow SUTD to draw strength from this trilateral relationship to create new innovations in teaching and research. This will be another important differentiator of SUTD’s educational model from its peer institutions and a key value proposition for its students.
- ICNMS is a timely addition to help meet Singapore’s increasing demand for doctors, and develop a new model for medical education. It capitalises on the opportunity to create a best–in–class institution by tapping into Imperial’s experience in innovative medical education. It also leverages on both Imperial’s and NTU’s strengths in science and engineering to infuse engineering elements in its medical education to encourage inter–disciplinary training and engage in world–class research in areas like bio–medical engineering, bio–materials and bio–surgery. The IAAP suggests closer coordination among ICNMS, the existing medical schools, and across the healthcare system, to build up and optimise the use of clinical training facilities. This has been a challenge for many medical schools worldwide.
- The IAAP commends Singapore on the establishment of SIT, which preserves the strong foundations of Singapore’s polytechnic system while building upon and situating it more closely alongside Singapore’s tightly integrated university landscape. Crucially, SIT will provide an additional option for polytechnic graduates to obtain their university degrees and produce highly desired graduates for Singapore’s growth sectors. The IAAP strongly supports this innovative initiative which can be a model for other countries. Like Singapore, these countries will increasingly need to upgrade the knowledge and skills of their workforce as their economies develop and take–off.
The IAAP strongly endorses the proposal for NUS and Yale University to establish a liberal arts college in Singapore. The IAAP first mooted the idea in 2007 as a strategy for Singapore to attract and retain top talent. The panel feels that this is a timely introduction of a new educational model that will focus on broad–based learning and inculcating critical thinking skills which will prepare its graduates for employment, public service and enrich the lives of others. Moreover, a Yale–NUS liberal arts college will complement the excellent discipline–based programmes already available and being developed, whilst broadening the existing range of educational offerings for high–potential students. The IAAP views that a liberal arts education model will be strengthened with a more diverse student body and the college should take in a fair share of top international students.
As Singapore transitions to an increasingly variegated higher education landscape it is imperative that the institutions, both new and existing, exploit areas of convergence within the system. In this regard, the IAAP is heartened that both NUS and NTU have collaborated to create the 5th Research Centre of Excellence, the Singapore Centre on Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE), while SUTD is exploring collaborations with the existing universities. In this same vein, the IAAP supports the close research collaboration between the AUs and A*STAR. This will create synergies in the development of Singapore’s research capabilities and enhance Singapore’s overall competitive advantage in attracting top research talent.
Adequate Resourcing for the Higher Education System
The IAAP supports the establishment of the $2B Singapore Universities Trust, which provides enhanced government matching grants for donations to the AUs1. It allows the government to capitalise current resources to secure the future needs of the system. The IAAP views that this would catalyse more alumni and community engagement. Encouraging a culture of philanthropy is critical to the goal of engendering excellence in Singapore’s university system and at the same time cultivates values that are befitting of a modern society.
While it is expected that more endowment income would help to resource the AUs’ operating budgets, the IAAP notes that there are risks if the universities over–rely on endowment income, as returns from investments can be cyclical and volatile. Universities which have a significant proportion of their budgets resourced through the endowment income have also been the exception rather than the rule. However, the approach of diversifying university funding sources is a move in the right direction. The AUs will need a sustainable model of funding with appropriate support coming from multiple sources, including Government grants, student fees, research grants and income from endowment funds.
The IAAP suggests that the parameters of the funding model be reviewed from time to time, for the system as a whole and for different types of institutions and programmes, to maintain their relevance and efficacy.
Meetings
The IAAP visited NUS, NTU and SMU, where IAAP members interacted with university senior management, faculty members and students. The panel also met with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to discuss developments in Singapore’s higher education landscape and shared their findings with the Minister for Education. The IAAP was hosted to a dinner by President S R Nathan. In addition, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport, Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, hosted a dinner with industry captains in attendance.
The IAAP members appreciated the opportunity to discuss issues of importance in the tertiary education system. The next meeting of the IAAP will be convened in January 2013.
Footnote
- The Government will invest about $4 billion over the next 20 years to provide enhanced matching grants for endowed donations that the universities raise. Of this, $2 billion will be set aside in a Singapore Universities Trust, so that matching grants can be provided regardless of economic circumstances. ↵