17 April 1998

SPEECH BY DR TONY TAN KENG YAM, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE, AT THE 1st MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY ADMISSION SYSTEM HELD ON FRIDAY 17 APRIL 1998 AT 10.30 AM AT NUS

I am very pleased to be here this morning to have the opportunity to address you at the 1st meeting of the Committee on University Admission System. I thank all of you for agreeing to serve on this most important Committee. Among the members of the Committee, which is chaired by Professor Shih Choon Fong, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of NUS, are representatives from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Trade & Industry, the universities, junior colleges and the private sector. The diversity of educational backgrounds and occupations, which you as members bring to the Committee, reflects the complex and difficult range of interests and issues which the Committee has to identify and think through before arriving at a University Admission System which will serve our Universities, our students and our country well into the 21st century.

2. Students who enrol in our Universities come from different backgrounds. Some enrol directly after finishing their 'A' levels at our Junior Colleges. Others have studied at the Polytechnics or ITE.

A small number have already graduated from Universities in other countries and seek to further their education in Singapore.

In the course of your work on the Committee, you will have to take into account this variety of educational backgrounds as well as the needs of mature students and students with special abilities. Some members of the Committee are parents who have children at school preparing to enrol in our Universities in the coming years. Your personal involvement in the work of the Committee will assure parents in Singapore that the interests of their children will be fully taken into account in the Committee's deliberations.

3. As I explained during my talk at the Nanyang Technological University in February this year, the impetus for setting up the Committee on University Admission System came from the concern of the International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP), which met in Singapore in August last year, that our education system in Singapore, which is based on the British model with an emphasis on early specialisation, could handicap our students when they graduate and enter the workforce in the 21st Century. With globalisation of industries and wide spread use of technology, particularly Information Technology, economies, jobs and careers are no longer static but will undergo continuous change. To ensure life-long employment, graduates in the future will have to be prepared to change their occupations and careers a number of times during their working lives. Initiatives are now being taken at our schools and universities to better prepare our students to be competent, productive adults, able to take on the challenges of a new working environment and hold their own in an increasingly competitive world. To keep up with the developments taking place in our universities, schools and the external world, it is timely to review and revise our university admission system to reflect the new imperatives and concerns.

4. At my speech at NTU in February, I emphasised three fundamentals which should not be compromised in the review of the University Admission System :

Another very important factor which you as Committee Members will have to bear in mind is that as our Universities receive considerable funding from the Government, they have to be accountable to the public and the University Admission System must not only be fair but must be seen to be transparent and fair.

5. In order to arrive at an improved University Admission System, you will find it useful to study the philosophy, approach and practices of university admission systems in other countries to see what useful lessons can be gleaned for Singapore. In addition, you should, in the course of your work, arrange to meet with principals and teachers, parents, employers and students to get feedback and views which can assist your deliberations.

6. The implications of changing the University Admission System go beyond the universities. The changes which you recommend will have an impact on all levels of education for many years to come. Your review and your recommendations will affect the motivation and behaviour of teachers, students and even parents throughout Singapore. The university admission system, which you recommend, will have a large influence on what is taught and emphasised in our schools and other institutions in our education system.

7. You will therefore have to take a comprehensive approach and be realistic in framing your recommendations, but I would urge you to temper your realism with imagination and balance your boldness with circumspection. If you are too cautious in your approach, you will arrive at a less-than-optimal solution. If you go too far in striving for an educational ideal, your recommendations may not suit our society and economy and will turn out to be impractical and unworkable. In short, let your vision and your aspiration go beyond the horizon but keep your feet firmly on the ground.

8. Remember always that Singapore is a unique country with our own needs, constraints and aspirations. We have achieved excellence in many areas in our education system. What we are looking for is an improvement to the system not an undoing of the achievements of the past.

9. Let me close by thanking all of you again for agreeing to give your time and energy to serve on this most important Committee.

The task is difficult but worthwhile. What you do and what you recommend will have an impact on principals, teachers, parents, and students for many generations to come.

	First, continued emphasis on high academic standards and rigorous selection criteria in order to identify and reward students who work hard and who perform well academically;
	Second, retention of reasonable standards of competence in the Mother Tongue and English because bilingualism is the cornerstone of our education system; and
	Third, gradual implementation of the new University Admission System to allow sufficient time for students and teachers to adapt to the new requirements.