Poll: Private institute fresh grads still lagging behind in job prospects
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Students at Kaplan Singapore, a private education institution headquartered here. Across the country, there were about 9,300 full-time bachelor's level graduates from external degree programmes, with three-quarters graduating in 2019, before the start of the pandemic.
PHOTO: KAPLAN
Job prospects for fresh graduates from private education institutions (PEIs) continue to lag behind those from autonomous universities (AUs), the latest graduate employment survey released yesterday showed.
Released by SkillsFuture Singapore, the findings focused on the employment outcomes of about 2,500 graduates across 30 PEIs who currently hold jobs or are actively looking for one after graduating between May 2019 and April last year.
The survey found that about 81 per cent of economically active graduates from PEIs were employed within six months of their final examinations. The figure was about 94 per cent for those from AUs such as the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore University of Social Sciences.
Among PEI graduates who found a job within six months, 49 per cent found full-time permanent employment, compared with 69.8 per cent from the AUs.
The survey showed that the median gross monthly salary of PEI fresh graduates in full-time permanent employment was $2,900, compared with $3,700 for AU fresh graduates and $2,500 for post-national service (NS) polytechnic graduates.
Fresh PEI graduates also had the highest levels of unemployment or involuntary part-time/temporary employment at 30 per cent, against 15.2 per cent for AU fresh graduates and 9.5 per cent for post-NS polytechnic graduates.
There were about 9,300 full-time bachelor's level graduates from external degree programmes, with three-quarters graduating in 2019, before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The poll is conducted annually by the Committee for Private Education under SkillsFuture Singapore.
An AskST report last month said that although employers do discriminate against PEI graduates, they could take heart from the fact that once they were in a job, it was their performance that mattered.
PSB Academy graduate Meriam Philip, who completed a diploma and external degree course at the institution, said the quality of learning prepared her for the postgraduate course she went on to do at SMU and for her current job as a sales specialist.
Ms Meriam, 25, said: "The rigour of the course was on a par with what my peers undertook at other local and overseas universities. It equipped me with the skills and network necessary to enter the workforce."
