SIM grads find jobs easily, but earn
less
Peers from public varsities are paid
serveral hundred dollars more: Survey
By SANDRA DAVIE
SENIOR WRITER
GRADUATES from Singapore's biggest and best known private school
land jobs easily, with most receiving two or more offers.
But the employment survey carried out by The Singapore
Institute of Management (SIM) shows that they are typically paid
several hundred dollars a month less than their peers from the
public funded universities.
Seven hundred graduates were polled by the global
education arm of the institute, which runs degree courses in
partnership with overseas schools.
SIM's other arm is UniSIM, which run part-time degree
courses for working adults. Its graduates were not covered by this
survey.
More than nine in 10 found a job within 6 months of
completing their course last year, with most receiving at least two
offers and a third getting three or more.
Ten per cent ended up being employed by the Government,
mostly at statutory boards such as the Central Provident Fund Board
and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.
The graduates ' typical monthly starting salary in both
the private and public sectors ranged from $2,400 to $2,600 -
significantly lower than that earned by those from the public
universities.
By contrast, the average monthly salary among Singapore
Management University graduates last year was $3,388, while Nanyang
Technological University graduates got $3,152 and those at the
National University of Singapore earned $3,112.
Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, who heads the insitute's global
education arm, said the discrepancy could be due to the fact that
it is not a government institution.
"This is peculiar to Singapore, where when it comes to
higher education, only the government-run institutions are seen to
be of high quality," he said.
He added that although the institute has a good record,
several private schools have been exposed over the years for
running sub-standard programmes.
"Unfortunately, we are tarred with the same brush."
Mr Lee said another reason could be that employers were
unfamiliar with its model of education, which involves partnerships
with foreign universities.
"We need to reach out more to explain how we ensure that
the overseas university programmes we run here are as rigorous as
the ones run in the home country."
He pointed out that one indication of quality was the
preformance of its students taking up University of London degree
courses.Last year, 117 of them got first-class honours and another
414 graduated with second upper honours.
The Straits Times asked four companies which employ
graduates from the institute why they paid them less. Only one
agreed to comment, on condition of anonymity.
Its human resources manager said private firms took their
cue from the public sector. "It's known that some government
ministries and stat boards, if they do hire them, put them on a
different scale," he said. "So, companies would use that as an
excuse to pay Singapore Insitute of Management grads less."
Several firms, including HSBC Singapore and SMRT, said
they place them on the same scale as other graduates. And once in,
employees rise through the ranks depending on how well they
perform. Some said they have noticed special qualities in those who
graduate from the institute.
Mr Phan Yoke Fei, vice-president of human resource at
SMRT, said: "They tend to be job-ready. They are also hard workers
willing to take on additional responsibilities, have a good work
attitude and tend to stay on with the company. I guess it comes
from being the underdogs, having to fight harder to have an edge
over their peers."
The Public Service Division would say only that it has a
"good number of civil servants" who got their degrees through the
private schools.
The Education Ministry said its teachers have
qualifications from many universities but did not say whether
private school graduates are placed on a lower salary scale.
Lack of interest from public
sector
* Mr S.L. Tan, 25, first-class honours graduate in
business:
"I was really keen on joining the civil service... but I didn't
even get an interview.
"Then when I applied to a couple of big companies, they
offered me a job but at a much lower salary than what my friends
from NUS and NTU were getting.
"I finally took a job with a company that paid me $300
less. But the HR manager said if I proved myself in three months,
he would up my salary - and he did."
* Ms A.Goh, second upper honours (Bachelor of Arts)
graduate who applied to teach. She now works in a publishing
company:
"I applied to teach twice but was not called for an interview. I
sought advice from my former school principal and was told to try
for an allied educator position, for which you need only a
polytechnic diploma."
Private institutions attracting more
Singaporean students
PRIVATE school graduates may sometimes be viewed as second
second-rate compared to those from the publicly funded
universities, but their numbers are swelling.
More students who find themselves unable to get places at
the public universities, including the National University of
Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, are turning to
more established private institutions.
And while they used to opt mostly for part-time studies,
most of them now prefer to study full-time and get their degrees
before entering the job market.
The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), the
Management Development Institute of Singapore, James Cook
University, Kaplan and the East Asia nstitute of Management all
report more Singaporeans are enrolling, and more opting to study
full-time.
SIM's global education arm has by far the largest number
of Singaporean students - about 19,000. It runs degree programmes
with overseas schools, including the University of London and the
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
About 14,300 of its Singaporean students are studying
full-time for degrees, up from about 12,000 in 2010.
At Kaplan, 60 per cent of its full-time students are
Singaporeans and school officials said the number has been growing
by about 30 per cent a year. This year, it shot up by 45 per
cent.
James Cook University Singapore said local students make
up about 25 per cent of its total student population of 2,500 and
their numbers have been increasing steadily.
What accounts for the increases?
Private school officials said that despite the setting up
of the Singapore Institute of Technology and the Singapore
University of Technology and Design, the number of places does not
match the rising aspirations of young Singaporean for a university
degree.
This year, there will be about 13,000 slots available at
the local universities, which means that 27 per cent of Singaporean
of university-going age will get places.
But Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, who heads SIM's global education
arm, said: "I would say easily 60, 70 per cent of every group
aspires for a degree. So there is a shortfall."
The Council for Private Education, which tracks the
enrolment in private schools, did not release the latest figures.
But in 2010, there were more than 100,000 Singaporeans signed up,
with 40,000of them on degree programmes. Schools said that many of
the remaining students are likely to be on diploma programmes
leading to degrees.
Mr R. Theyvendran, who heads the Management Development
Insitute of Singapore, noted that the hefty cost of going overseas
is another reason more students are turning to private schools.
Spending between $20,000 and $60,000 over three or four
years here is much more affordable.
Students said the bigger private schools have shaped up
markedly, improving facilities, courses and teaching. This is
thanks in part to the new regulations that require them to gain the
EduTrust quality mark before they can enrol foreign students,
Besides finding reputable partners, several have set up fully
fledged campuses.
They bigger schools such as SIM, the Management
Development Insitute of Singapore and James Cook offer a vibrant
campus life with active student bodies and clubs.
Singapore students at the private schools said that they
see a degree as a must, and want one with market value. They
therefore make beeline for the more established schools with
reputable university partners.
But Singaporeans enrolled in private schools are also
aware that employers tend to rate graduates from public
universities more highly. They were not surprised to hear of SIM's
employment survey findings, which showed that in terms of salaries,
its graduates lagged behind those from public universities.
Still, they said they are getting a good university
education and job preparation through the private schools.
Mr Daniel Ho Sheng, from Raffles Junior College, is
studying for a communications degree at SIM. He opt for the private
school route after failing to get into a course of his choice at
the public universities.
The 22-year-old hopes to land a job in the civil service
when he graduates next year.
He said: "I realise that private school graduates may be
at a disadvantage when we go out into the job market, but after
more than two years at SIM, I would say I am a soild university
education.
"Also, not getting a place in the local universities
shapes your character in some ways. You tend to fight harder, work
harder to get ahead, and I believe such experience will help me
develop qualities that will serve me well in the workplace."
SANDRA DAVIE
Top of the news, The Straits Time, Friday, June 8 2012, Pg
A8