By Liew Hanqing
August 25, 2005
THERE could be more foreign students than Singaporeans taking some
engineering and science courses at the National University of
Singapore.
Students tell The New Paper that this is particularly true in
electrical and computer engineering, with local students forming
less than a quarter of the class sometimes.
For instance, out of the 48 students in one industrial and systems
engineering class, only 10 are Singaporeans, they said.
As many as 31 are from China, and seven are from other
countries.
When asked for the details, the university said 20 per cent of its
entire student body is international.
'International students are not evenly distributed across all
faculties,' its spokesman said.
'Faculties such as engineering and computing may have a higher
proportion of foreign students depending on foreign student
interest in such courses.'
In going international, NUS has gone into partnerships with seven
universities worldwide - including big names like Peking
University, Australian National University, UC Berkeley and
Yale.
This means there will be more exchange programmes and more
collaborative research.
More competition too, as foreign students flock to our
shores.
And the locals seem to be feeling the heat. One 23-year-old
computer engineering student said foreigners made up about
two-thirds of his class.
Three other students who are doing computer engineering confirmed
that the majority of students taking the course are foreigners,
mostly from China.
NUS would not comment on this figure.
Fourth-year environmental engineering student Audrey Huang, 22,
said: 'With more foreign students, local students aren't given
enough space to develop.
'Maybe the competitive local students would like being spurred on
by these foreign intellectuals, but personally, as a normal
student, it gives me excessive pressure.'
Second-year computer engineering student Chen Kaiwei, 22, felt that
admitting foreigners would be meaningful only if more interaction
between them and the locals was encouraged.
'Local students don't mix with the foreigners, so they don't learn
anything from them,' he said.
'The only effect, then, is the intensive competition.'
But that is the key to success, the NUS administration
believes.
The NUS spokesman said: 'We impose a highly competitive selection
criteria for international students, more so than we would for
local students.
'This is to ensure that our international students are among the
most talented, and that they are truly deserving of a place in
NUS.'
Some local students are taking the competition in their
stride.
'There's no running away from competition,' said second-year
mechanical engineering student Zeng Xian Hong, 22.
'If we don't meet foreign competitors in school, we'll meet them in
the working world.
'There's no difference.'
But will this make an NUS education less accessible for local
applicants?
NUS, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management
University now have separate admission systems, the spokesman
said.
'There are, therefore, sufficient places and a variety of courses -
no deserving local students will be turned away.'
For reference:
1. NUS International Students Fees Info
http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/undergraduate/fees.htm
2. NTU International Students Fees Info
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/OAS/Fees/tuit...s+ay2005-06.htm
