PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR

PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR

27.

Dr Ong Seh Hong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry in light of the reports in the press that students in the People's Republic of China are losing confidence in our private educational institutions and our reputation as an education hub being thus tarnished, has his Ministry plans (i) to maintain the quality and standard of privately run educational institutions and (ii) to regulate and accredit these institutions to protect the interests of students, both local and overseas.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: The Singapore Government is committed to develop the private education sector and elevate its standards as part of our overall efforts to develop Singapore into a thriving education hub.

As a basic requirement, MOE already registers privately-run schools offering academic and commercial courses, as well as tuition schools, enrichment centres and foreign system and international schools. Individual persons or organisations intending to set up a private school must be able to provide evidence that they have adequate and relevant teaching and administration staff, a curriculum acceptable to MOE, and that the school is adequately and appropriately furnished and equipped.

On top of MOE registration, the Singapore Quality Class for Private Education Organisations (SQC-PEO) scheme was launched by SPRING Singapore in 2003 to recognise quality education providers for their business process excellence. But more can and will be done to encourage privately-run schools to upgrade and improve their standards.

Providing Quality Education - Accreditation

To recognise institutions for providing quality education, SPRING has, since October last year, been working with Government agencies such as MTI, MOE, EDB and STB to

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set up an accreditation system. The accreditation scheme will be drawn up in consultation with industry players, and SPRING is targeting to launch the accreditation scheme for private education organisations in January 2005.

Honest Business Dealings

In choosing to study in Singapore , some students and their families have had to invest a significant portion of their life-savings. All private schools must conduct their business in an ethical, honest and transparent manner so that the students' interests are protected. This will help ensure that we remain an attractive destination for international students.

To this end, the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) is working on a CaseTrust for Private Schools scheme. This scheme safeguards the interest of the students by requiring private schools to have standard terms in their offer letters to students, establish clear policies for course refunds and transfers, and set up proper dispute resolution mechanisms in the event of disagreements between the students and the schools. Private schools that qualify for the scheme will then be able to display the CaseTrust logo as a mark of recognition. Details of this scheme will be announced in August 2004.

Reliable information for students

In addition, a public information system has been put in place to ensure that students have access to a trusted source of information. STB has launched the Singapore Education website last year. This website provides information to help all potential students who want to study here get reliable information about the private education sector in Singapore . STB is also working with the Chinese authorities to hyperlink the Singapore Education website to their official student information website. This will ensure that there is a conduit of trusted information for any student in China wishing to study in Singapore .

Industry-led Upgrading

While Government has an important role to play in creating the conditions for a vibrant education sector, the efforts of Government agencies are only one part of the equation. The private schools themselves must be willing to take action, upgrade and protect the good name of their industry. In this regard, we are pleased to note that various industry associations such as Singapore Education International (SEI), Association of Private Schools (APS), and the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME), have been stepping forward to help private schools upgrade. For example, SEI is exploring initiatives to identify and give awards to good quality agents, and ASME is exploring a new benchmark for SMEs for best business practices. Students, on their part, owe it to themselves to conduct their own checks before signing up for courses and to clarify the terms offered before enrolling in any school.

Sir , Singapore enjoys a good reputation as an education hub, with many world-class universities and educational institutions located here. We must continue to work together with our industry partners to raise the quality and reputation of our educational offerings so as to achieve our vision of Singapore as a Global Schoolhouse.

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