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Economic Review Committee says:
Woo full-fee paying foreign students

Quality education is the key

BY AZHAR GHANI
Sept 16, 2002

A BUSTLING education scene.

This is what the Economic Review Committee would like to see so Singapore can tap the big market for quality education.

Globally, the education industry is worth US$2.2 trillion (about $3.9 trillion) and employs some 5 per cent of the world's workforce.

In countries like the United Kingdom and Australia, it contributes more than 5 per cent to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

As it is, Singapore's report card makes it look like an under-achiever.

According to the ERC report, our education industry contributes about $3 billion - or just 1.9 per cent of GDP - to the economy as well as 47,000 jobs.

In 10 years, our educational services sector can be developed to score a GDP contribution of 3 to 5 per cent, said the ERC report.

Even Malaysia may have a head start: Minimal regulatory hurdles there and elsewhere result in "a diversity of public and private institutions, which increases their attractiveness as educational destinations".

However, making it an engine of economic growth isn't the only reason why it should be nurtured.

Being an education hub helps drive Singapore's capability development.

It also serves as a magnet for talent.

MORE VARSITIES IN S'PORE

The changes proposed by the ERC might result in quite a few more universities in Singapore.

Under a three-tier university system, private universities (local or foreign) will be encouraged to set up shop.

These would add to the local universities and world-class universities that are here or being wooed, like John Hopkins, Insead, and Wharton.

The proposed universities would be able to set their own international-to-local student ratios.

And in terms of global ranking, their standard would have to be at least on par with the National University of Singapore (NUS) or the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

HAVE TO SHINE TO MAKE GRADE

There are several ranking systems maintained by different institutions, including the National Academy of Science and National Academy of Engineering in the US.

In certain categories, these additional universities will have to shine just to make the grade.

For example, NUS is already ranked in the top category as a doctoral research university by the Carnegie Classification, a ranking conducted by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in the US.

So the sprouting-up of more private universities is unlikely to erode Singapore's standing as a regional educational centre.

After all, enhancing that is a key consideration of the committee's report, scheduled to be released today at a press conference. It is chaired by Senior Minister of State (Transport and Information, Communications and the Arts) Khaw Boon Wan.

Mr Khaw also heads the ERC sub-committee on service industries, which includes the education services working group behind the report.

There are several other recommendations in the report. (See report below.)

But the general thrust is towards developing the education industry - which, it is made clear, is serious business.

STUDENT VISA SYSTEM

Another key proposal the report moots is the setting up of an Education Promotion Agency (EPA) to sell Singapore as an education destination.

The proposed agency would also perform "customer services" functions like acting as a resource centre for job and accomodation searches for international students.

To make it less of a hassle for international students to study in Singapore, the report also proposes a streamlining of the student visa system to make it more flexible and transparent.

As customers become more discerning, the report proposes that a quality assurance system be put in place to ensure that commercial schools at all levels would be up to par.

This is not the first time Singapore's educational services sector has come into focus. The drive is still on to put us into the same class with the bigger boys.

Back in 1986, the Economic Committee led by then Minister of State (Trade and Industry) Lee Hsien Loong had said that it was one of the services sectors that should be nurtured and promoted.

Big money in these... 1 Tertiary education Develop three-tier system: A) world class universities B) NUS NTU and SMU. C) Other private universities. 2 Commercial & specialty schools Build a core of 40 high-quality schools. Tighten standards for the rest 3 Corporate training & executive education Get more MNCs to base regional training centres here. Get good institutions to provide executive training. 4 Preparatory & boarding schools Make Singapore regional destination of quality preparatory and boarding schools.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

The ERC wants the Government to let local students enrol in international schools.

This can "minimise the leakage" from Singaporeans going to international schools based overseas.

In the interest of national education, international schools here can incorporate national education and bilingual requirements into the curriculum so as to enrol Singaporean students.

The ERC said: "If local students attend the international schools, more international students could be encouraged by their local friendship groups to attend the local universities, and this could raise the admission standards of each cohort."

The ERC also said top local schools, like Raffles Institution, should be allowed to establish private schools targeted at full-fee paying international students.

The majority of the international students studying in public schools are paying government subsidised fees.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

HAVE a government or private agency take charge of the overall development of the education industry

As a long-term approach is needed to attract international players and nurture home-grown capabilities, having one agency in charge should result in better execution and monitoring of plans

PUT a quality assurance system in place to ensure that service providers from the private sector pass the grade.

To keep players on their toes and safeguard Singapore's reputation as a hub for quality education, a list of performance indicators should be included.

RECRUIT from overseas in the short term to get qualified manpower - and plan for more local involvement in the long run.

Although overseas staffing is necessary at first, the local talent pool should be enlarged by developing Singapore's training capacity for private sector teachers.

This can be done by getting good foreign teacher-training colleges to set up branches here.

SET UP an Education Promotion Agency (EPA) to perform "salesman" and "customer services" duties to attract international students.

Like the British Council and the US Education Information Centre, this would be a centralised agency with overseas offices to attract international students to Singapore.

It would also provide services like job-placement and counselling to make Singapore a more attractive educational destination.

STREAMLINE student visa requirements and processing by having a more flexible and transparent visa application and processing system.

One possible model - similar to the Australian one - is to have different visa categories for different types of education programs.

PLAN for reasonably-priced space so that educational service providers can set up shop.

One way is to set aside 90 ha of land at institutional land pricing to help new players set up physical campuses here.

Another way is to let commercial schools take over disused public school compounds.

INCREASE the supply of student housing by tapping into JTC's housing scheme for foreign talent and getting the Housing Board to relax its rules on subletting of flats.

The EPA can also act as a resource centre for house-hunting international students.

BUILD a market for student loans which both local and international students can tap into for their financing needs.

EXPORT branded Singapore schools and educational resources such as curriculum materials.

These can be done through public-private sector partnerships.