Mr S Iswaran at the “Singapore Education Awards 2006”

WELCOME ADDRESS BY MR S ISWARAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY, AT THE “SINGAPORE EDUCATION AWARDS 2006”, ON 23 MARCH 2007, 7.20PM, AT THE NATIONALMUSEUM OF SINGAPORE

Excellencies,

Award recipients,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good evening. I am delighted to join you this evening at the inaugural Singapore Education Awards ceremony.

Singapore as a Global Schoolhouse

It is widely acknowledged that education is a cornerstone of Singapore’s socio-economic growth and development. It is also an important part of our economy.Today, the education sector accounts for 3.8% of our GDP. Our target is to grow this to about 5% of GDP by 2015.

To achieve this we need to work on two fronts.The first is to continue to build on the strengths of our public education system.The second is to nurture the growth of the private education sector.The Singapore Education initiative is an important aspect of the latter.Our objective is to develop Singapore into a 'Global Schoolhouse' - providing diverse and quality educational choices at all levels from pre-school to post-graduate study, attracting an international community of students.

Singapore is a Compelling Education Destination

Singapore is a choice location for education for many students and parents from overseas. They cite our cosmopolitan character, global connectivity, safe and friendly environment, bilingual society, and quality education offerings as key factors.

Singapore's public schools have a distinguished record of high standards in teaching and learning.One measure of this is the excellent performance of our students in international comparative studies such as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.We have also attained peaks of excellence in the global arena as attested to by our students clinching top prizes in world debating championships (English) and International Olympiads in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Our three local universities offer a wide spectrum of disciplines and courses ranging from engineering to biomedical sciences. In the 2006 World University Rankings conducted by the Times Higher Education Supplement, the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University were ranked 19 and 61 respectively out of the top 200 universities worldwide. This is a tribute to the quality of our tertiary education. In addition, our local universities also offer joint programmes with no less than 16 leading institutions, and over 500 study-abroad programmes with top tier universities around the world.

We have also developed a strong private education sector. Today, we have 20 foreign universities, 41 preparatory & boarding schools (comprising 38 foreign system schools and 3 privately funded schools). 292 local private schools in Singapore have been CASETrusted; 45 of which have attained the Singapore Quality Class for PEOs, or SQC-PEO certification.

In recent years, we have successfully attracted a range of reputable foreign institutions to set up their campus in Singapore. Leading foreign universities such as INSEAD, the University of Chicago and Waseda University, have been joined by world-class foreign specialized institutions, such as the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the Tisch School of the Arts, and Digipen Institute of Technology. We will continue to bring in more specialised programs via tie-ups with the local polytechnics. This will add buzz and variety to the learning environment in Singapore, and help position Singapore as a premier educational and research hub.

A Welcoming Place for International Students

As the marketing and promotion arm for Singapore Education, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has embarked on a range of initiatives to make Singapore a more welcoming place for international students.

Over the last 2 years, STB has mounted missions and roadshows to over 30 cities across the region, and last year the Board rolled out the Singapore Education brand campaign in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. There are 16 dedicated education specialist staff in 14 of STB’s overseas offices, to promote our education services and serve the needs of our education customers.

STB has also established 2 Singapore Education Services Centres in Singapore and Jakarta. These centres ensure that students receive appropriate and adequate counselling and pre-departure preparation respectively. There are plans to open more of such centres in other key target markets, including Ho Chih Minh and Chennai.

With the launch of the Singapore Education Specialist programme, over 200 student agents have been certified across 11 markets to provide a trusted channel for potential students to access information, guidance and assistance with school registration and other formalities.

Locally, STB has also spared no effort to ensure that the student experience is a memorable one. In 2005, the Overseas Students Association was formed with the objective of developing a self-help scheme provided by students, for students. Today, it has close to 2,000 members, organising various social, sporting, orientation and community programmes for its members. 

Tourism Clubs in our local schools have also been formed to serve as hosts for the thousands of visiting school groups that we receive every year. An International Student Privilege Card launched in 2005 gives international students’ attractive discounts and privileges for a range of retail purchases and leisure pursuits, so that they get more out of their allowances.

All these efforts have begun to bear fruit. Last year, Singapore hosted close to 80,000 students of over 120 nationalities. This is an increase of 11.6% over the previous year, and 46% since we started active cultivation of the international student market in 2003.

Championing high standards in order to help us realize our vision of a Global Schoolhouse

Singapore has acquired a strong global reputation in education due to the quality and integrity of the education programmes in our publicly-funded schools and tertiary institutions.It is important, for Singaporeans and foreigners alike, that we continue to preserve and uphold the reputation of our education system. This is especially so for the private education sector, where standards can vary widely.

The pursuit of commercial goals must not be at the expense of educational quality and standards.Indeed, it would be counterproductive. Schemes such as the CaseTrust for Education and SQC-PEO have been introduced to assure quality in this fast-growing sector, and to help international students make a more informed choice when deciding which schools to study in.

Going forward, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has announced that it is exploring the feasibility of introducing a licensing system to ensure that private schools meet certain standards in terms of academic rigor, financial stability and student welfare before they are allowed to operate. MOE will also be looking into an accreditation system to recognise high-quality private education providers, which will help students in selecting the right school that suits them.

The Singapore Education Awards is STB’s initiative, to encourage the education industry to strive for excellence.The awards serve to recognise exemplary individuals and organizations who have demonstrated a sustained commitment to providing quality education services over the years. Ultimately, it is quality, and not course fees or shorter times to graduation, that differentiate education service providers in the market.

In addition, I hope the awards would also create an opportunity for the industry players to learn from best practices and serve as a benchmark for education service providers to emulate and exceed the high service standards that are being honoured.

Conclusion

For Singapore to compete for its share of global talent, we need to continually enhance our appeal to international students by ensuring that they have an enriching and memorable experience whilst acquiring a good internationally-recognised education.Tonight’s Singapore Education Awards recognise the contributions of our partners to this effort.Our aim is to establish benchmarks for service excellence and quality, and to invite our partners to join hands in this collective endeavour towards the vision of Singapore as a Global Schoolhouse.

I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all the award nominees tonight. I wish you a pleasant evening.

Thank you.