other education-related topics in today's ST forums:
Varsities:
Talent-centred or citizen-centred?
I READ a most thought-provoking article in The Straits Times on
April 7 - 'How to win alumni and donors'.
It was a speech by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at the 800th
Cambridge University celebration in Hong Kong. It was about his
enduring sense of gratitude for all the experiences and help he
received as a student at Cambridge.
He then compared this to the contrasting allegiances of Cambridge
graduate and ST columnist Chua Mui Hoong who suffered the indignity
of a £50 fine when her sister stayed for two weeks in her dormitory
at Cambridge but received overwhelming love and support at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology when she stayed on in Boston
for br.east cancer treatment.
She was quoted as asking: 'What is it in a university's experience
that creates loyalty in alumni, and what is it that alienates
them?'
She gave a three-point answer:
Sense of community
Good communication with alumni
Student-centred administration.
Let me pose an equally relevant question for Singapore. What is it
in a nation that creates loyalty in citizens, and what alienates
them? There is no simple answer. It is not easy for any government
to balance all considerations. But talking about university
students, I have a point to make.
In the National University of Singapore Academic Yearbook
2006-2007, the fees paid by medical students reveal a
talent-centred administration to whom citizenship is worth a few
dollars. Compare the following:
Singapore citizens and permanent residents: Full fees - $81,610.
Payment after tuition grant - $17,010.
International students: Full fees - $83,310. Payment after tuition
grant - $18,710.
My son, as an international student at the University of Western
Australia, pays full fees of A$42,000 (S$50,000) a year while
Australians pay a tiny fraction and have access to generous study
loans.
Why do international students take some of the places of our own
boys who have put in 2 1/2 years of national service? Why do
foreigners get to pay almost the same rates as 'fortunate' citizens
who win a place at NUS? Presumably the answer is talent. Singapore
needs talent.
Singapore also needs to be more citizen-centred. For without
citizens who love their nation because they have first been loved,
the richest nation will have no soul.
Tan Thiam Chye
More poly
places for S'poreans
DURING the last direct admissions exercise for entrance to
polytechnics last month, I applied to Singapore Polytechnic (SP)
and Temasek Polytechnic (TP). I was a TP student before I dropped
out. I admit I did so because I was not mature then and constantly
skipped classes. I decided to enlist in national service as I did
not want to waste time and I wanted to add discipline to my
character.
I planned to apply for entry to a polytechnic after I finished NS.
I served my country and even went overseas to Brunei to serve in an
isolated camp for a whole year.
I was therefore surprised when both SP and TP told me there were no
vacancies. I know the polytechnics give priority to students who
apply under the joint admissions exercise, a policy which I support
as they have just finished their O levels. When I called TP and
asked if I have to compete with foreign students, its reply seemed
to indicate that foreign students do receive priority over
Singaporeans.
SP gave me the same reply and added that 10 per cent of places are
reserved for foreign students.
My question is, why give foreigners priority over Singaporeans who
are determined to study and have served their nation?
Mohammed Shaffiq Sarudin
