Like public universities and polytechnics, quality private education institutions have an important role to play in the development of Singapore's human capital ("Beware pitfalls of new private school rules"; by Mr Yoshi Aki Poon Hon Tung; Nov 16).

As one of Singapore's largest private institutions for higher learning, PSB Academy has been supportive of recent initiatives by the Committee for Private Education (CPE) which seek to raise the bar for private institutions.

In the same spirit, PSB Academy voluntarily commissions reputable external research firms to conduct graduate employment surveys, as one of several internal measures of graduate outcomes.

In his letter, Mr Poon cited the raising of fees in the light of CPE's new ruling, to cope with potentially rising administrative costs.

We will do our very best to enable anyone, who is willing to make the effort, to afford a qualification in his area of interest.

Last year, we provided more than $1 million in aid through self-help groups such as Sinda and Mendaki.

We have also put in place initiatives such as the absorption of interest rates of local education loans applied through the TCC Credit Cooperative.

Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong has cited the importance of public-private partnerships to drive the development of our future economy ("Strong public-private tie-ups vital: Minister"; Nov 18).

I hope that the new CPE measures will enable the combined efforts of institutions - both public and private - to create a smarter education ecosystem, and help our people remain industry-ready.

Marcus Loh

Vice-President

Corporate Communication

PSB Academy