SINGAPORE POLYTECHNIC (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

4.04 p.m.

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

It is the convention for an institution of higher learning to affix its common seal to its degrees, diplomas and certificates. The Singapore Polytechnic is no exception in this use of the common seal. However, at present section 10 of the Singapore Polytechnic Act requires two conditions to be satisfied before the common seal can be affixed to any instrument. Firstly, the Chairman or a member of the Board and the principal will have to sign the instrument. Secondly, these same persons will both have to be present together while the seal is being affixed. Therefore, in affixing the common seal to the Singapore Polytechnic diplomas and certificates, certain obvious difficulties arise. When a small number of diplomas and certificates is involved, compliance with this formality is tolerable though irksome. While the expansion, as envisaged, to develop the site to the north-west of Dover Road is in progress, it is expected that the number of graduates will rise steadily to well over 1,600 by 1976-77 when the new campus will have been completed. Under such circumstances, the affixing of the common seal to each and every diploma and certificate will become excessively cumbersome.

The Singapore Polytechnic intends that each of the technician diploma and certificate will in future continue to bear the common seal and be individually signed by the principal and the head of the school concerned. However, the Chairman's signature will no longer be hand-signed but only be printed on the diplomas and certificates.

This Bill seeks to enable the Polytechnic to carry out its intention by means of a simple amendment to exempt compliance with section 10 of the Singapore Polytechnic Act, in so far as affixing the common seal of this institution's diplomas and academic certificates is concerned. The Bill will not involve the Government in any financial expenditure.

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.