1/15/2011

Singapore University Education quality up

The tuition fees for Singapore universities and polytechnics will go up in the next academic year. The reason given is that the cost of providing quality education is going up. The fee hikes range from 3% to 6% for universities and 2% to 3% for polytechnics. The increases for NUS and NTU were 4-6% which are higher than SMU’s 3%. At the rate it is going the quality of education in NUS and NTU will improve tremendously over that of SMU. And I can presume that SMU will have to improve its quality next year by higher fee increases just to catch up. Students in NUS and NTU will be celebrating in the increasing quality of their education. Students in polytechnics will have to make do with only 2-3% improvement. If university fees were a guide to the quality of the education provided, then the fee increase must be accelerated. Then it will only be a matter of time when the quality of our university education be betterer than the top universities in the West. And students who can afford to pay more for quality education will be flocking to this education hub for world best university education.

8 comments:

Wally Buffet said...

I suggest a COE to attend tertiary institutions. Bidding would be like car ownership, maybe even more moronic.

Then, only the well heeled or the super intelligent or the champion regurgitator or mugger would be able to be graduates to fulfil our civil service requirements, and not forgetting of course those foreign Indian and Chinese students that we give out scholarships like door gifts with no strings attached.

This will solve the problem of labour shortage for the more menial jobs as more locals, unable to be managers, executives, lawyers, doctors, engineers will have to climb down from their lofty aspirations.

National productivity may rise as people does what they do best with innate talent not becoming a useless doctor without aptitude.

Go for it!

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

> If university fees were a guide to the quality of the education provided <

Indeed, "if". They're not because the education provided here is public, not in a free market as opposed to privately provided in a free market.

The govt can charge what it likes -- according to its own arbitrary standards. The student (customer) has no say in the matter.

However as far as "quality" is concerned, S'pore tertiary institutions are "not bad" and offer reasonable to good "value for money" compared to other countries...i.e. in the greater scheme of things, despite all the govt interference, the S'pore tertiary education market is "competitive".

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

wally,

I think it was your hero Warren who said (something like) that a good business had systems so good that a monkey could run it.

Modern business are run by ever more complex, extrinsic and deeply intrinsic "systems". Middle management is becoming obsolete. You only need a few "creatives" -- i.e. the entrepreneurs and a few "stewards" -- the senior managers to keep things chugging along.

In to day's world of "degree inflation", people can't get their mind off the con job. It doesn't matter what degree you have: to be useful in any enterprise, you have to e TRAINED in their (usually proprietary) systems and become "part of that team".

So don't worry: as long as there is a reasonable idea of meritocracy in S'pore society, S'pore will continue to maintain its status as a DAMN FINE HOTE!

Anonymous said...

The fees going up, confirmed.

The standard up or down? Up say the degree holders. Down say the employers.

Local Universities are not rated very high in international surveys.
But do students in Sin have much choice? Just pay up if one wants to be educated, who the hell in Sin cares about you? Except your parents.
The Leaders? You 'tan kuku'(dont expect/or hope).

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

"Education" is merely means to an end: basically to enhance your own productivity and "value" to others.

Academia is one avenue of education, but there are others.

At one time the only bullshit degrees were those of theology and divinity -- religion -- bullshit taken to the highest possible level.

But nowadays you can get degrees in hairdressing, manicure and pedicure. Seriously...I'm at a loss for words.

Anonymous said...

I am sure they will come out to say it is still very affordable. As sure as the sun rises.

As for the improvement in quality of our university education, if it is up, why are the rankings getting lower. In fact NTU just disappeared down the gutter!

Or are they going to say that we are up, but others are 'more' up?

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

> I am sure they will come out to say it is still very affordable. <

Sure they will. And you are not obliged to take their word without challenge.

Is is easy to challenge: just look at how much it costs to get "edu-ma-cated" in the US, Australia and the UK -- who has just had a HUGE increase in fees.

Then you will fall down on knees and see how fucking lucky you are in Singapore (even in spite of the PAP's annoyances)

Anonymous said...

//
At one time the only bullshit degrees were those of theology and divinity -- religion -- bullshit taken to the highest possible level.
//

Each time the likes of Dawkins open their mouth, Bible Colleges get a few more applicants and they can charge more.