Media Watchdog - A good example

Rock^Star SG

University places - numbers dont add up
Posted by theonlinecitizen on July 18th, 2007

By Leong Sze Hian

This Channelnewsasia report titled Enough places in local universities for Singaporeans : MOE, quotes Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education as saying:

The universities do give priority to local students. And for our students who can qualify based on the requirement of each discipline and each faculty would have been given admission. Beyond that, the universities would want to ensure there are also sufficient foreign students to provide diversity.

Mr Gan said 28,000 Singapore students applied to the universities this year and half of them were offered places. In contrast, 23,000 foreign students applied and only 987 or 4.3 percent were given places.

In this connection, I refer to the articles More varsity places needed, says Tony Tan (ST, Jun 19) and Skewed demand led to squeeze on varsity places: Shortage only for popular courses, and isnt due to Dragon Year effect (ST, Jun 16), and the Ministry of Educations reply Sporeans have priority in university admission (ST, Jun 16) to 3 letters in ST forum.

Although an additional 1,270 or 10% more places were provided this year, was the foreign intake still 20%? If so, the 10% increase was not just for Singaporeans, but for foreigners too.

The 20% foreigner cap is for the first year intake only. According to a report in the Business Times of 26 May,

international students now make up about 20% of NTUs undergraduate population and about 33% of its graduate populationthe National University of Singapore (NUS) said about 20% of its 23,900 undergraduates and about 50% of its 9,100 postgraduate students are from overseasthe number of permanent residencies (PRs) awarded last year rose to 57,300 a 9.6% increase from 2005 and a 55.3% increase from 2004.

This means that about 28% of the total student population in NUS are foreigners. If we factor in PRs, the number of students in NUS who are Singaporeans may be around 60%.

Since only 4.3% of foreigners were given places compared to 50% for Singapore students this year, how do we explain the above NUS statement that about 20% of its 23,900 undergraduates and about 50% of its 9,100 postgraduate students are from overseas?

For how many years has this 20% foreigners policy been in practice?

What is the actual admission intake figures for Singaporeans, PRs and foreigners, which may be different from places offered?

Does places offered to foreign students, include those who are on scholarships?

What is the impact of our foreign students policy on Singaporeans ability to secure places in popular university courses?

How many Singaporeans have no choice but to go overseas or enrol in local or foreign tertiary institutions in Singapore?

I would like to suggest that the intake of foreigners should be kept at 20% per course, so that more vacancies in less popular courses may be offered as alternatives to Singaporeans.

Rock^Star SG

Singapore News

Close to 20% of foreign students who apply for local universities get in
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 19 July 2007 2149 hrs

SINGAPORE: Close to 20 percent of foreign students who applied to local universities were accepted this year.

The Ministry of Education had said in Parliament on Tuesday that the figure was only 4.3 percent, and only 987 foreign students got into local universities this year.

In fact, out of the 23,000 foreign students who applied for local universities, the actual number admitted was 4,218.

The Ministry explained that the 987 figure only referred to foreign students who had obtained GCE 'A' level or polytechnic qualifications in Singapore.

It has capped the number of government-subsidised foreign students in Singapore at 20 percent because it does not want schools to expand too quickly.

However, this cap makes it difficult for universities to take in more full fee-paying foreign students.

Full fees for foreign students enrolled in non-lab courses in local universities are about S$26,000 a year.

This year, nearly 19,000 foreign students applied for local universities and did not get in, which translates to over S$480 million in lost revenue annually.

And it's not just missed economic opportunity.

"Foreign students bring diversity to the university. Can you imagine a university classroom (with) 100 percent Singapore students? Too homogenous a group is not going to create that diversity in learning," said Professor Tan Chin Tiong, Deputy President and Provost of Singapore Management University.

"When you have 15 countries... represented in the classroom, they learn from each other... You give them a case, they come up with 101 different ways to look at the problem," he continued.

Top universities in the world, such as MIT, have more than 40 percent foreign students.

In Singapore, the priority of universities is to meet the demand from local students.

This year, about 50 percent of local students who applied for local universities got in.

It is clearly a case of demand exceeding supply in the university sector here. But since local universities cannot expand capacity, it is up to the private universities to fill that demand.

Though UNSW Asia had pulled out from Singapore, the government also has not ruled out the possibility of setting up another private, comprehensive university.

In the meantime, the Economic Development Board is working to attract more private institutions to satisfy the demand and realise Singapore's global schoolhouse vision. CNA/ac

Rock^Star SG

MOEs reply - Numbers still dont add up
Posted by theonlinecitizen on July 20th, 2007

By Leong Sze Hian

The Ministry of Education has clarified that out of the 22,933 foreign students who applied for local universities, the actual number admitted was 4,218 (18.4%). The Ministry explained that the 987(4.3%) figure given in Parliament only referred to foreign students who had obtained GCE A level or polytechnic.

This clarification may still leave the following questions unanswered:-

- Since 51% (14,781) of the Singaporean students who applied were offered places, is the percentage of foreign students offered places 22.2% (4,218 foreigners divided by 18,999 [14,781 Singaporeans + 4,218 foreigners])?

Isnt 22.2% more than the 20% cap on foreigners?

- It was said in Parliament that The three local universities will provide 14,685 places this year, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

So, dividing 4,218 foreigners by 14,685 total places gives a foreign students enrolment of 28.7%.

If the 4.3% figure was wrong, what is the explanation for this apparent contradiction in the data?

- What is the first-year intake percentage for Singaporeans after adjusting for Permanent Residents?

- Since NUSs statement implies that 28% of the total undergraduate and post-graduate enrolment are foreigners, what is the total number of foreigners plus PRs relative to total enrolment?