|
TWO American universities caught the eye of the Singapore team that is casting for the shape that the country's fourth publicly funded university should take.
One was the Boston-based Northeastern University, which requires its students to undergo up to three six-month internships during their undergraduate years.
The other was Babson College, ranked No.1 in the United States for its entrepreneurship programme, in which all its undergraduates start and run a company while in university.
Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew, who led the 13-member team on two study trips to the US and Europe, said the jury was still out on the form this university should take. The trips were to seek ideas on how a fourth university - different from the rest - could expand the university sector here to offer places to 30 per cent of each cohort by 2015.
But following a discussion with polytechnic students yesterday, he listed the interesting features of the institutions the panel visited.
The team went to several American liberal arts colleges, including Amherst, Swarthmore and Harvey Mudd and spoke to the Singapore students studying there.
It came away impressed with the broad-based education in these colleges, which require students to cover the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Their students are drawn into thinking critically and synthesising knowledge and are exposed to different modes of thought.
Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui added, however, that the team also noted the high cost of setting up such colleges.
The students pay a subsidised annual tuition fee of US$45,000 (S$65,000), but this covers only half the cost.
The committee also noted that, among the technical and applied universities it visited in Europe and the US - including the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland, the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City and the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts - the focus was on helping students acquire the skills they would need to succeed in their careers.
They had maximum exposure to industry through 'solutions-directed research', multiple work attachments and their adjunct lecturers, who were drawn from industry.
The value of this kind of training is reaped in the top salaries commanded by graduates of these institutions. Graduates of the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland, for instance, earn more than those coming from the more traditional universities because they are able to 'hit the ground running', noted RADM Lui.
The 22 polytechnic students he met here for discussions yesterday also had this kind of work-relevant education in mind. Giving their views on the proposed fourth university, they suggested that it offer more work attachments and research.
The session was closed to the media, but RADM Lui told reporters later that, among other things, the students expressed concern over the reputation of the new university, saying that the Government should ensure that it is not seen as second-rate to the existing three.
The minister, who replied that the fourth university will have the flexibility to do things differently, disclosed that the committee will also hold discussions with junior college students, industry and parents. The public will also be invited to have their say through an online forum.
sandra@sph.com.sg
|
