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**WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER NOT
ANSWERED BY 3.00 PM **

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LIFE-SCIENCE EDUCATION

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17.

Assoc. Prof. Ong Soh Khim asked the Minister for Education (a) if there is too much emphasis on life-science education as the primary and secondary schools, Institutes of Technical Education, polytechnics, funding agencies and universities are all investing in life-science studies and research; (b) if students have been influenced into thinking that life-sciences hold the key to the future and in taking up life-science as their future choice of study; and (c) whether this will reduce the crop, in particular good students, in taking up studies in engineering and physical sciences.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: It is not surprising that interest in the life sciences has caught on in our schools and tertiary institutions. It is now well recognised all over the world that advances in the life sciences are opening up large economic opportunities and will have a major impact on human society in the 21st century.

But while there has been increasing interest in the life sciences, the number of students pursuing engineering-related disciplines or the physical sciences remains substantial. Candidature for 'O' Level Biology and Chemistry has increased in recent years, to 30% and 43% respectively in 2004. However, the 'O' Level Physics candidature has also increased, to 42% of all candidates*. Likewise, while 'A' Level Biology and Chemistry candidature has grown to 26% and 65%, 'A' Level Physics candidature remains a significant 60% of all candidates.

The picture is similar at the tertiary level. ITE's Biochemical Technology course, its only life sciences course, had an intake of 160 in 2005, which is 1.3% of ITE's annual planned intake of 12,000. But more than 50% of ITE students take engineering-related courses. At the polytechnics, about 2,200 students signed up for chemical and life sciences courses in 2005, compared with 4,800 polytechnic students taking up engineering courses in 2005. For NUS and NTU, about 850 students entered life sciences** courses in 2005, compared with about 4,400 students in engineering and nearly 600 students in the physical sciences.

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Singaporeans have been and remain pragmatic. Ultimately, it is the availability of jobs and perceptions of career prospects that determine the popularity of different courses. But no one can know, with any certainty, exactly what types of skills and knowledge will be demanded in future. Our educational institutions therefore avoid making large bets on the future, or moving well ahead of the job market. Their pattern of intake of students into different disciplines reflects current economic opportunities and the demands that our industries are already able to anticipate. They also seek to ensure a good spread of talent across key disciplines.

At the school level, we provide a strong foundation of education across a broad base of subjects, to give our students greater flexibility to further their studies. At the post-secondary educational institutions, some specialisation and professional training is necessary. But the institutions are encouraging students to take options outside of their core disciplines, so as to broaden their intellectual horizons and prepare them for any eventuality in the job market.

The fact that more students are opting for the life sciences is entirely expected, and will support the continued growth of the biomedical industries. But these are not the only growth opportunities for Singapore, or the only rewarding careers for young Singaporeans. We will promote awareness amongst our students of all the opportunities available, and seek to retain interest in engineering and the physical sciences as we go forward. We will seek to ensure that adequate talent is available to support a broad and flexible strategy of industrial growth - including our key industrial clusters, namely, Electronics, Chemicals and the Biomedical Sciences, and new growth industries such as Environmental and Water Technologies, and Interactive and Digital Media.

The polytechnics, for example, are actively engaged in promoting interest in engineering amongst secondary school students, through a joint Task Force in partnership with the Singapore Science Centre, EDB and other organisations. IDA and the Singapore Computer Society organise seminars and exhibitions to promote the IT industry to secondary and JC students. NUS and NTU also conduct outreach activities, including promotional talks at schools and JCs, to interest students in taking up engineering and the physical sciences. A STAR is also focused on developing a pipeline of research talent in both the biomedical sciences as well as the engineering and physical sciences. Last year, 50% of A STAR scholarships were awarded to students in the engineering and physical sciences.

*Besides the pure sciences, there is also a substantial group of students offering the combined sciences: 46% of candidates in 2004 offered Physics/Chemistry, 4% offered Physics/Biology and 6% offered Chemistry/Biology.

**Excludes Medicine and Dentistry. The number includes NUS Faculty of Science students declaring Life Sciences Major in 2005 (478), as well as the number of matriculating students in NUS Pharmacy (113), NTU Biological Sciences (201) and NTU Biomedical Sciences (63) in 2005. As the university semester has just begun, there may be some changes in the numbers in the coming weeks.

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