SETTING UP OF PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Mdm Ho Geok Choo asked the Acting Minister for Education (a) what is the rationale for rejecting our own proposal to open a fourth local university in view of the Economic Development Board courting such a deal with an international university; (b) how can the Government ensure that such international universities will be of equivalent academic standards as our own universities; (c) whether Public Service Commission scholarships and other Government scholarships will include these private universities in their eligibility list for such scholarships.

The Acting Minister for Education (Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam): Sir, the idea of a fourth publicly-funded university was studied by the Committee to Review the University Sector and Graduate Manpower Planning, chaired by Dr Ng Eng Hen, as part of its overall review of the sector. The Committee, which completed its report earlier this year, concluded that there was a sufficiently large pool of good students to sustain a high-quality public university sector catering to 25% of our primary one cohort, higher than the 21% currently. However, the Committee also pointed out that a new fourth university will find it difficult to attract good quality students and faculty staff. The commitment of public funds is likely to yield far better results if we were to leverage on the value and reputation already created in our three existing universities - NUS, NTU and SMU.

By expanding NTU to become a comprehensive university and by transforming NUS into a multi-campus university, we are setting out to achieve what the earlier fourth university proposal aimed to accomplish, that is, creating university capacity for 25% of our primary one cohort, while maintaining high quality. The Review Committee also supported allowing a few good quality private universities to provide undergraduate education in Singapore beyond the 25% cohort participation rate. The Government accepted these recommendations in May this year.

The foreign university that EDB plans to attract is therefore not a substitute for the earlier fourth university idea. A foreign university, if established, will be privately-funded. It would provide access to university education in Singapore over and above the target cohort participation rate of 25% in our publicly-funded universities. And it will not detract from the initiatives that our own universities are taking to build excellence. Instead, a Singapore campus of a reputable foreign university, by expanding the choices available to students and faculty, can add to the vibrance of the university sector as a whole. To support this objective, MOE will work closely with EDB to ensure that only quality universities with good academic credentials are invited to establish a campus here.

With regard to Mdm Ho's query on scholarships, PSC or MOE does not decide on the universities for our scholars. It is the scholar who decides where he wants to study. The scholar is allowed his choice provided the university is of good standing, known to offer sufficiently rigorous curricula to its students, and the courses pursued meet the needs of the organisation.

Mr Sin Boon Ann (Tampines): Will the Minister elaborate on what he meant by quality students and quality staff in the context of the analysis?

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The Committee, in its study, had assessed the pool of students coming out from our schools and polytechnics and had concluded that catering to 25% of Primary 1 cohort will not diminish the quality we expect to see of our publicly-funded universities in Singapore. As for staff, it is a more fluid matter because the universities can attract staff from around the world. So the key criterion is really the students. Establishing quality undergraduate training in Singapore requires that you ultimately have students who are able to benefit from a rigorous university education and meet the graduate manpower needs of the economy.

Mdm Ho Geok Choo: I would like to clarify with the Minister. Since this university is going to be a privately-funded one, and we are also going to ensure that it is a university of quality standing, we could expect therefore that the students that would be drawn into this university would also be the better quality students who can afford to enter this university. What would be the outcome for us? Would we end up promoting a very elitist society?

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: I would not at all assume that the students who enter the campus of a foreign university would be superior in quality to those entering our existing publicly-funded universities. I do not have any reason to expect that. In fact, I do not expect that.

Assoc. Prof. Ngiam Tee Liang (Nominated Member): Sir, I would like to ask the Minister, in view of international universities coming in, together with our local universities, would there be an accreditation body for universities that will be set up so that we can regulate matters, like quality and curriculum? Otherwise, there will be some disparity over time and it is very hard then to try to make sure that we are of comparable standards.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Singapore is a small city. We have only a few universities. I think rather than set up an elaborate system for accrediting the quality of universities, it is more useful if, first, within our publicly-funded universities, MOE works with the universities to establish that they have a good quality assurance system in place. There is a high degree of transparency about the quality of degrees in Singapore. Employers know the universities, they know the different faculties in the universities. We have to ensure that we do not spare resources on ensuring continued improvement on quality within the universities.

Dr Tan Boon Wan (Ang Mo Kio): May I seek clarification from the Minister? I believe we classify SMU as a private university, but yet we have subvention from the Government. Can I understand that this concept of the fourth university with international university would be truly a private university, in the sense that there is no Government subvention, or would there be any Government subvention of some kind?

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: MOE would not provide subventions to a privately-funded university, for instance, a foreign university attracted by EDB. Whether EDB provides some incentives for this university or any other educational institution that they seek to attract to Singapore is a separate matter. That is a broader matter of investment promotion and building Singapore as an education hub. MOE does not intend to subsidise the education provided by any private university or any private education provider generally.