EXTERNAL DEGREES

Mr Ong Ah Heng asked the Minister for Education, since there are many mature individuals pursuing external degrees, whether statistics have been compiled to show that these individuals are able to derive any increase in their compensation package or improve their economic wellbeing.

The Minister for Education (RAdm Teo Chee Hean): Mr Speaker, Sir, the answer is no. The Ministry of Education does not have data on the compensation packages of individuals pursuing external degrees.

Mr Ong Ah Heng (Nee Soon Central): In the papers today, we find many advertisements on external degrees which are offered by the various institutions of learning. The costs of pursuing these degrees are very high. Very often students who ---

Mr Speaker: Order. Can you move straight to your question, Mr Ong?

Mr Ong Ah Heng: Could the Ministry of Education come out with a list of recognised long-distance institutions of learning so that our people will have some guide?

RAdm Teo Chee Hean: Sir, I have explained this before and I will do so again. There are many institutions which offer qualifications of various kinds, including degrees. They can be offered by long distance, as the Member has said, they can be by twinning programmes. They can be offered over the Internet. They can be offered by correspondence. The Ministry of Education is not in a position to accredit or to make a judgment on the quality of any of these qualifications because they can be offered by institutions in a number of countries. So it will have to be left to individuals to decide for themselves, when they take up a particular programme, on the quality of the offerings of that particular institution, and it will have to be left to the employers to decide, when they are employing particular individuals, what are the qualifications of the persons who are applying for the job. That is the only practical way of dealing with the situation when there are large numbers and varieties of qualifications that are on offer.