Executive Summary

Executive Summary
1.
Our universities have played a key contributory role towards
Singapores economic and social development over the last three
decades. These institutions, apart from educating cohorts of graduates for
the economy, are more importantly entrenched in the national psyche of
each Singaporean. The National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang
Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU)
collectively had an undergraduate enrolment of about 39,000 students in
2002.
They also provide postgraduate training and research, and
collaborate with Research Institutes (RIs), industry and the World Class
Universities institutions1.
2.
In tandem with the economic restructuring initiatives for Singapore,
and the Governments proposal to provide an additional 3,500 university
places to meet the 25% cohort participation rate (CPR)2 target by 2010, an
inter-ministry Committee to Review the University Sector and Graduate
Manpower Planning, chaired by Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister of State (Education
and Manpower), was formed on 9 Feb 2002 to recommend a long-term
structure for our university sector that would continue to serve Singapores
requirements as we transit to a new economic structure.
3.
The Committee first deliberated on whether the current standards of
our universities could be maintained as we expand their intake of students.
The Committee reviewed the quality of the potential pool of students from
feeder streams within the junior colleges and polytechnics, and was
satisfied that the present academic rigour of our university sector would not
be compromised after the proposed expansion. Three strategic objectives
form the basis for the restructuring of the university sector. First, our
universities should continue training industry-relevant graduate manpower
and serve as magnets to attract and retain foreign talent in Singapore.
Second, our universities must be better positioned to generate ideas for
wealth creation. Their research efforts must develop depth in specialised
areas in each domain, and breadth of expertise along the spectrum of
disciplines to achieve research excellence and high economic impact.
Third, our universities must attain international branding to entrench
Singapores reputation as a significant player in the global education
arena.

In 1998, the Economic Development Board (EDB) launched its World Class Universities (WCU)
programme to attract at least ten WCUs to establish a significant presence in Singapore
within ten years.
2 The Cohort Participation Rate is expressed as a percentage of the Primary One cohort, i.e.
the percentage of Singaporean and permanent resident students per Primary One cohort,
who are admitted into university each year. In 2002, the CPR was 21%.
1

Report of the Committee To Review The University Sector

And Graduate Manpower Planning

4.
Thus, our universities must maintain, and where possible, enhance their
current standards even as we expand our university sector. Institutional
diversity will enable our universities to achieve excellence and
differentiated branding based on individual strengths and character. A
one-size-fits-all mould would be ineffective in meeting the needs of a wider
spectrum of students. While we should have institutions that play different
roles, the university ecosystem should also allow institutions to compete and
carve out niches of excellence. However, even as universities respond to
student needs and their individual missions, the university sector as a whole
must remain robust. Confidence in the university sector must be maintained
through its ability to offer a relevant, high quality and reasonably accessible
education. Central planning will still be required to ensure high standards
and an output of graduates commensurate with our economic goals.
A NEW PUBLIC UNIVERSITY SECTOR STRUCTURE
5.
To achieve these stated goals, the Committee proposes an expanded
public university sector that comprises two large comprehensive universities
(i.e. NUS Kent Ridge and NTU) and three niche institutions (i.e. SMU, NUS
Outram and NUS Buona Vista). As the bedrock of university education in
Singapore, the public university sector will best achieve the strategic
objectives of our university sector, and embody the features of institutional
diversity, healthy competition and robustness in the long term.
6.
The Committee recommends that NUS be transformed into a multicampus university (MCU) system comprising three autonomous campuses
led by their respective Presidents. NUS Kent Ridge will retain its existing
spread of disciplines with an enrolment of 23,900 undergraduates. The two
new niche campuses will leverage on NUS reputation, strengths and
efficiencies, and hence, surmount the problems characteristic of fledgling
independent universities.
7.
NUS Buona Vista will be a research-intensive university with a vibrant
research culture, providing for 4,000 postgraduates and offering a unique
opportunity to 2,0004,000 undergraduates with a research inclination. It
will thus provide undergraduate education for 500 1,000 students each
year who are able to benefit from the research-oriented environment that
the campus offers. Foreign students could make up about 30% of NUS
Buona Vistas total intake even as the 20% foreign student proportion should
continue to be preserved within the overall NUS MCU. It will offer
programmes in the fields of engineering, info-communications technology
and the sciences. NUS Buona Vistas research environment could be
buoyed by siting the campus within One-North, for co-location with hightech industry R&D facilities that will help to germinate strong linkages with
industry. The Committee also recommends that NUS Buona Vista forge a
strong partnership with a reputable foreign university to better attract
students and faculty.

Executive Summary

8.
NUS Outram is envisaged as a small, specialised institution providing
medical and possibly, allied health science education. The proposed
Graduate Medical Programme (GMP) that leads to an MD degree, with an
intake of 50 each year, can be the anchor offering of NUS Outram. The
Committee also feels that in the longer term, there may be scope for NUS
Outram to set up a School of Health Sciences and expand to provide for a
small undergraduate intake (around 350) in allied health science courses.
NUS Outram could then have an undergraduate enrolment of about 1,000,
and a GMP enrolment of about 200.
9.
The Committee recommends that while operating within an MCU
system, each campus be given flexibility to set additional admission criteria
over and above the prevailing guidelines on university admission to better
target a student profile that is aligned with its mission and focus. To achieve
a balance between common branding and the ability to differentiate from
each other, degree scrolls could be identical in design and carry the NUS
label, followed by the specific campus name. To provide strategic
leadership for the MCU system, the Committee suggests that the MCU
system be under the oversight of a Vice-Chancellor (VC). The VC, together
with an MCU Co-ordinating Council, is responsible for setting the strategic
directions of the MCU and the three campuses.
10. The Committee recommends that NTU expand into a full-fledged,
comprehensive university to include disciplines in the physical sciences,
humanities and design & media. NTUs annual intake will grow to about
6,000 students (from its current intake of 4,400), and have a steady state
undergraduate enrolment of about 22,300 students. Students will then have
a choice of two comprehensive universities with a wide base of disciplines
within our public sector.
11. The Committee suggests that SMU should continue in its existing role as
a quality university offering business and management education, with a
steady state undergraduate enrolment of 6,200.
12. With these structural changes in effect, most major disciplines will be
represented in two or three campuses. This will create the diversity and
competition necessary to propel our universities forward.
PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES
13. The Committee supports the role of private universities in providing
undergraduate education in Singapore beyond the 25% CPR. It is open to
a small number of good quality private universities setting up in Singapore.
With a robust bedrock public university sector catering fully to the target
25% CPR provision and meeting our graduate manpower needs, the
private universities will further expand the options available to students and
faculty. The Committee feels this is in line with the strategic objectives of

Report of the Committee To Review The University Sector

And Graduate Manpower Planning

creating diversity and enhancing healthy competition within the overall

university sector.
GRADUATE MANPOWER PLANNING
14. Graduate manpower planning is currently done through the setting of
faculty-specific targets at the undergraduate level. The Committee notes
that going forward, the current form of planning needs to be more flexible
and responsive, as it will be more difficult to predict growth industries and
hence, the type of manpower required in the new economy. The current
faculty-specific targets may also hinder universities from developing new
hybrid courses in response to industry demand for manpower with multidisciplinary training.
15. The Committee therefore recommends that more flexibility be given
to the universities to determine the distribution of intake among various
undergraduate courses, so that they can respond more quickly to industry
needs. In this regard, broader targets should be set. A certain number of
university places should also be set aside in a flexible target category for
the universities to distribute among the various courses at their discretion.
The Committee is of the view that technical manpower will continue to be
important drivers of growth, as Singapore evolves into a knowledge
economy. Hence, there is a need to maintain a technical bias in the
targets being set, so that the intake of students into science, engineering
and technology courses is safeguarded.
In the longer term, the
Government needs to supplement numerical target setting to focus more
on skills needs, competencies and personal traits to be taught through the
university curricula, as well as to place greater emphasis on planning for
continuing education and training.
16. The Committee further notes that as we evolve to a more flexible
planning approach, market-based signals and indicators will become more
important to achieve alignment of interests among the universities, industry
and students. To this end, the Committee recommends that a system of
market-based signals, such as regular publication of the employment
statistics of graduates of the various universities, be put in place. More
information on manpower trends and forecasts should also be
disseminated to the public.
17. As the supply of postgraduate manpower has been growing in
tandem with demand, the Committee does not see the need to set
postgraduate targets for the local universities at present. However, it sees a
need to strengthen data collection and feedback on the need for
postgraduate manpower, and for the Government to regularly review the
postgraduate manpower situation.

Executive Summary

AN OPERATING ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS DIVERSITY

18. The Committee supports NUS efforts in setting up a Graduate School
for Integrative Sciences and Engineering which aims to embark on multidisciplinary education and research. This School can be a strategic focal
point for NUS to collaborate with the RIs, industry and international bodies,
and will complement the faculty-based provision of postgraduate
education that already exists in NUS Kent Ridge.
It will also facilitate
research talent attraction and manpower development and enhance
interaction with the RIs, thus developing a mutually beneficial relationship
that optimises resource utilisation and enhances synergy in both teaching
and research.
19. At the national level, the objectives of our R&D efforts are to attract
and train superior research manpower and produce research outcomes
that translate into economic or strategic gain. With a broad disciplinary
base, and early access to potential R&D talent, our universities are well
placed to provide a gestation habitat for cultivating research manpower
and rooting research talent in Singapore. By focusing on R&D manpower
development in strategic areas, the Graduate School can partner with RIs
and provide the necessary resources and support to identify, create and
improve on common areas of research focus and manpower training with
RIs and overseas partners.
20. The Committee suggests that the other universities could also explore
setting up graduate schools or other suitable postgraduate education
structures, to allow better facilitation of multi-disciplinary postgraduate
education and synergy with RIs. In this way, our universities could work
towards the longer-term goals of training manpower, producing immediate
R&D outcomes and rooting research talent in Singapore.
21. Besides an operating environment which boosts research and
postgraduate training, the Committee notes that with the diverse university
sector and the impending changes to the Junior College curriculum, there
is a need to review the university admission system in the near future. Out of
the overall university CPR of 25%, the Committee expects that 19%-points
could come from the junior colleges, and 6%-points from the polytechnic
route. Given these developments and to allow the universities greater
autonomy in shaping the profile of their students, the Committee
recommends that the universities and the Ministry of Education (MOE) finetune the university admission system. There should be a reasonable
balance in intake from the two sources as well as of candidates with other
qualifications. Whilst there should continue to be minimum standards of
eligibility for the university sector to maintain international standing, more
latitude could be given to individual faculties and universities to adopt
different admission criteria beyond the threshold criteria.

Report of the Committee To Review The University Sector

And Graduate Manpower Planning

22. To take into account the differentiation in institutional missions and

foci, the Committee suggests that we encourage the universities to expand
their sources of funding, e.g. from endowments and industry participation.
We could also allow campuses and faculties to charge different fees based
on the principle that varying quality of education requires different
resources. While we allow a differentiated fee structure, the Committee
suggests that universities will have to justify any fee increase, and seek the
Governments approval. Such requests will be reviewed on the basis of
objective parameters. Those who are able to benefit from a university
education will not be denied a place because of financial difficulties.
Hence, financial assistance schemes should be retained to ensure a needsblind policy for university admission.
23. Further, in subsidising postgraduate education, the Committee feels
that we should ensure that our universities exercise greater selectivity to
improve the quality of their postgraduate intake and ensure the relevance
of the fields/courses offered. MOE will also ensure that funding of
postgraduate education is aligned with the strategic objectives of
producing industry-relevant graduates and enhancing our countrys
research capacity. As such, we will employ postgraduate funding to
encourage more to move into targeted areas of postgraduate research.
MOE could work with the relevant economic agencies and Ministries to
identify such targeted areas.
CONCLUSION
24. The Committee is of the view that a vibrant and robust university
sector will enable our universities to meet the economic and social needs of
Singapore in an increasingly competitive world economy. The restructured
university sector will also better cater to the needs of a wider spectrum of
university-bound students, as well as to industrys requirements for a diverse
workforce profile. By making timely changes, the Committee hopes to
position our university sector for success in an exciting and challenging
future.