NGEE ANN COLLEGE (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

3.30 p.m.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Dr Lee Chiaw Meng): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

When Ngee Ann College was established in April 1963, it was registered under the Education Ordinance as a private institution and was financed and administered by the Ngee Ann Kongsi. It functioned then as a College of liberal arts, offering degree courses in Chinese Studies, Malay Studies, Home Economics and Commerce.

In 1967, following acceptance by the Ngee Ann Kongsi of the recommendations contained in the Thong Saw Pak Report to reorganise Ngee Ann College into a Community College, it was reconstituted by Statute (No. 28 of 1967) with its management vested in a Council.

In April 1968, a sum of $469,820 comprising $363,000 as capital expenditure and $106,820 as recurrent expenditure for the first year was given by Government to assist Ngee Ann College to provide courses geared to meet the growing demands for technical manpower in our Republic. A further grant of $987,750 was given by the Government to the College in 1969 to enable further expansion of the College in this direction.

The first course conducted by the College in August 1968, as a result of its reorganisation was the three-year Mechanical Engineering Course, leading to a Technician Diploma. This was followed by the introduction of the Industrial Electronics Course in April 1969. All the old degree courses in Chinese Studies, Malay Studies, Home Economics and Commerce have been phased out, and only the Technician Diploma Course in Technical and Business Administration subjects will be conducted from now on.

In a further move to support Ngee Ann College in its effort at reorganisation, the Government has recommended a reduction of tuition fees payable by Ngee Ann College students from $540 per annum to $300 per annum. To enable Ngee Ann College to do this, the Government has approved a further subsidy amounting to $100,000 per annum. The total subsidy by the Government for the coming financial year will amount to more than $1.1 million.

In view of the reorganisation of Ngee Ann College into a College providing mainly technical education facilities, the name of the College, known as Ngee Ann College under section 3 of the Ngee Ann College Act, 1967, was administratively changed to that of Ngee Ann Technical College on 22nd August, 1968, by the Ngee Ann Council.

This Bill is introduced to regularise the position, that is, to enable Ngee Ann College to assume the name of Ngee Ann Technical College with retrospective effect from 22nd August, 1968.

Mr Speaker, I beg to move.

Question proposed.

3.35 p.m.

Mr Ng Kah Ting: Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education the following questions:

Firstly, what other courses of study, apart from the Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Electronics Courses, are being offered to students and what level of education do these courses lead to? I hope these courses are so organised that they will not duplicate the courses that are being organised by the Singapore Polytechnic and the other two institutions of tertiary education in the Republic, namely, the University of Singapore and Nanyang University.

Secondly, I notice that the Government subsidy to Ngee Ann College stands at $1.1 million. In this respect, I should be grateful if the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education would enlighten this House on what role the Ministry of Education plays apart from subvention.

Lastly, I understand that there was a Principal of Ngee Ann College. Recently, there were advertisements for the post of Principal of Ngee Ann College in the local press. Could the Parliamentary Secretary enlighten the House on this?

Sir, I support the Bill.

Dr Lee Chiaw Meng: Mr Speaker, Sir, other than the three-year Technician Diploma Course in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Electronics, the College also runs a three-year course at the same level in Commerce and Business Administration. The College is also planning to enlarge the enrolment of these three courses. At the same time, it is planning to run a two-year course at the ordinary Technician Diploma level which is equivalent to the General Certificate of Industrial Technology offered by the Singapore Polytechnic in Engineering subjects, and also a course in Private Secretaryship. These courses run by Ngee Ann College will not duplicate, but Will supplement the courses conducted in other tertiary institutions.

Despite the very substantial grant the Government has given to Ngee Ann College, the Government's role with respect to Ngee Ann College is similar to that with respect to Nanyang University.

The supreme governing body of the College is vested in a Council of which three members are appointed by the Minister for Education. The Ministry of Education does quite frequently give general guidance and advice to the College in administrative and financial matters.

There is a Principal at Ngee Ann College. She is on leave as from the 15th of March, 1970, prior to resignation. The administrative and academic management of the College is now vested in an Executive Committee until a suitably qualified candidate for the principalship is found. In the past, the Council has, on various occasions, invited applications, both overseas and locally, for the post of principal. Unfortunately, up to this date the College has not been able to find a suitable candidate.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill.-[Dr Lee Chiaw Meng].

Bill considered in Committee; reported without amendment; read a Third time and passed.