In 1997, Singapore set up the International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP). Its members included renowned academics and the Presidents of several top universities from Europe, America and Japan. The 11-member panel compared the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with their own institutions in the areas of operations, facilities and quality of education in order to help the government establish the strategies and directions that would turn the two local universities into world-class institutions.
The IAAP was very clear sighted. In August 1997, three Presidents from well-known universities in America, France and Germany pointed out that, "the education system in Singapore is too focused and specialised, and this will benefit neither the students nor the country's economic development." They proposed that the system expand its knowledge base and become more general to avoid having its students specialise at too early an age.
At the same time, they also noted that Singapore's higher education was skewed towards increasing students' employability and ensuring economic growth. Their opinion was that while producing employable graduates had been useful in the 20th century, it was debatable whether such a model would be suitable for the changing demands of the 21st century.
These suggestions from leading educators of developed nations served as a wake-up call for our two national universities, which had been languishing. In 1998 the University Admission Committee produced a report on educational reform and invited the IAAP to comment on it when they met in Singapore the following year. Meanwhile, the IAAP's recommendations were brought to the attention of Members of Parliament in March 1998 when they debated the Education Budget for 1998-99.
In January 1999 when the panel members returned to Singapore, they were impressed by both NUS and NTU because they had followed their recommendations closely as they worked towards improving themselves. This indicated that there was a genuine desire to move forward.
Mr William Owens, Chief Executive Officer of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) said, "In America, we have many outstanding academic advisory groups which give practical advice to our schools, but when they are invited to follow up two years later, most of the institutions have not changed at all."
Comparatively, Singapore's universities were more willing to change. For example, in 1997 when the panel suggested that the universities increase the intake of foreign students, both universities immediately revised their targets to 20 per cent for this group, and in 1999, NTU actually managed to exceed this figure. This willingness to respond positively to advice was also seen in the broadening of the syllabus for a number of undergraduates. NTU included more non-engineering modules in its engineering degree programme and NUS implemented its General Education Modules across three major faculties: Arts & Social Sciences, Science and Computing.
In 1999, the advisory panel suggested adjusting the existing salary structure of faculty members to reflect market demand and performance. This salary adjustment would see increased competition between universities and private corporations, and ensure that the most talented people were attracted. In addition, the panel also proposed that the government grant more autonomy to the universities with regards to funding. They felt that the institutions should be more proactive in raising their own funds and less reliant on the government.
After these revisions the IAAP continued to offer their advice and recommendations for the university sector. These included their approval of the preliminary report of the University Restructuring Committee; their support for the setting up of the National Research Foundation in 2004 to recruit world-class research talent; their agreement with the report Autonomous Universities: Towards Peaks of Excellence in 2005, which recommended that Singapore's universities gain autonomy and create more endowment funds; their support for the Committee on the Expansion of the University Sector; their suggestion of a post-secondary education account in order to fund continuing education and ensure employability for the whole of a citizen's working life; their movement to establish Research Centres of Excellence to hasten the development of research-intensive universities; and in 2008 their advocacy of a fourth university - Singapore's first liberal arts college.
In 2012, the Committee on University Education Pathways implemented the practice-driven approach at university level, and recommended the setting up of a fund for social science research to attract the top talent in this field. In supporting the applied model, the panel members stressed that it ought not only to complement the paradigm of our existing universities but also retain its own unique qualities. This objective extends to admitting students based on more flexible criteria; accepting students with different strengths and passions; and permitting deferred admissions.
Judging by EduNation's interviews with the Presidents of the six local universities, it is apparent that despite having different philosophies, they are all adopting the ideas offered by the panel.
On 1 August 2003, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam assumed the post of Minister for Education. That same day, he said to reporters, "Singapore's education is like a ship in the ocean and we are sailing towards uncharted territories. We may have surmounted the first challenge to lead the other vessels but we do not know how strong the currents ahead are. In order to seize all available opportunities we must establish diverse routes for the future."
In an interview with EduNation ten years later, Mr Tharman, in his capacity as Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the IAAP, gave us his report card on tertiary education in Singapore. In giving it, he reiterated that the future remains an unknown but he also noted that a new route to it had been found for students who wish to develop their expertise through applied learning.
And moving forward, there is now little doubt that Singapore will continue to search for new and different educational pathways into tomorrow's world.
Translated by: Selina Tan, Lee Xiao Wen
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