i wonder how is he going to justify his pay rise?
Ministers blunder a cause for concern
Posted by theonlinecitizen on July 20th, 2007
By Choo Zheng Xi
Our writer Leong Sze Hian recently pointed out that numbers for the
proportion of foreign students in local varsities given by Minister
of State for Education Gan Kim Yong in Parliament did not add
up.
Mr Gan had said in Parliament that of 23,000 foreign students who
applied to local varsities, only 987 or 4.3 percent were given
places.
Mr Leong was right.
The Ministry of Education today clarified that almost five times
the number were in fact admitted. Out of the 23,000 foreign
students who applied, the actual number admitted was 4,218.
However, even with this latest clarification from MOE, the numbers
still do not stack up. (Link)
The most cursory glance at the figures involved shows that the
gross disparity in the statistics delivered to Parliament and
actual numbers should have cried out for an explanation.
As Mr Leong pointed out in his article, about 20% of the National
University of Singapores 23,900 undergraduates come from overseas.
For anyone curious about the issue of foreign talent, not to
mention a Minister of State, this disparity should have been
obvious.
It is worrying that a Minister of State would present statistics to
parliament which later have to be corrected by officials from his
ministry. This seems to defeat the purpose of having parliamentary
debates in the first place.
More worrying is the weakness of political leadership this incident
displays: what exactly is the role of the Minister of State if he
is merely the Parliamentary mouthpiece for his civil
servants?
MOE has been quick to put the actual statistics out in public view.
This is commendable.
However, it is most regrettable that Parliamentarians have been
temporarily deprived of the ability to ask the questions about our
governments foreign talent policy they otherwise could have were
accurate statistics provided in this sitting. The debate must now
carry on in the platforms in which it was first aired: in the old
media and the new.
Mistake aside, unanswered questions still remain.
As Mr Leong has written, the government has so far not provided us
with actual admission intake figures for Singaporeans, PRs and
foreigners. Indeed, a back of the envelope calculation shows that
the number of foreign students might actually exceed the 20% quota
set by MOE.
The government has staked its reputation on good leadership. One
Parliamentary misstep will hardly rattle its track record. However,
this incident does put into question the importance the political
leadership places on the question of foreign talent.
Unless the government wants to entrench an impression of laissez
faire management of a laissez faire policy, it has to ensure that
its ministers are properly briefed before the next Parliamentary
sitting, and that Parliament and the people are given the correct
answers and figures.
