Singapore is about the size of the Isle of Wight with a population of 4.2 million. Its only natural assets are its strategic geographical position and the skills of its people. In origin, approximately 76 percent of the population are Chinese, 14 percent Malay, eight percent Indian and one percent others. The median age of the population is 36 years and average life expectancy is 79 years.
Singapore’s literacy rate of 95.7 percent is one of the highest in the world and the educational profile of the population has also improved over the last decade – the proportion of Singaporeans with university education rose from 2.7 per cent in 1980 to 19.6 per cent in 2006.
There are approximately 280,000 children in primary schools; 200,000 in secondary schools; 24,000 in pre-university colleges; 24,000 in technical institutes; 68,000 in polytechnics; and 63,000 in universities.
Education expenditure in 2008 accounted for 23 per cent of planned public sector operating expenditure. Singapore, which has a GDP per capita of about GBP 24,000, ranks as a high income country and is one of the wealthiest and most modern countries in Asia. Approximately 20,000 Singaporean students study overseas for higher education, the majority at undergraduate level.
By UK standards, Singapore’s educational system is small. The feeder institutions for UK higher education are the 17 junior colleges, one centralised institute, various international schools, three universities and five polytechnics. In addition, an increasingly important source for recruitment to the UK is the foreign students studying in Singapore.
Traditionally, Singapore’s education system, which has common roots with the UK system, has been highly controlled and centrally-driven. However, the Government is gradually decentralising various functions, though direction still comes from the centre. Recent developments include a new education policy that aims to have an education system that creates and offers opportunity for all; to develop every talent, not just those who are academically inclined; a focus on the broad range of opportunities offered; and to create more opportunities for students to get a degree. The current focus for the schools is ‘teach less, learn more’.
The main competitors for Singaporean students undertaking studies overseas are Australia and the USA. Local developments, including the opening of Singapore’s 'Open University' – Singapore Institute of Management University – as well as the Economic Development Board ‘Global Schoolhouse’ initiative to attract world-class institutions to set-up campuses in Singapore, have also threatened the UK’s standing as an overseas study destination.
For the year 2007 / 2008 (HESA statistics), the enrolment of Singaporean students at UK higher education institutions was 3,205 and appears to have reached a steady state. The most popular subjects for Singaporean students are: engineering; law; medicine; life sciences and other medically related subjects; economics; education; computers; English; and business and related subjects.
The demand for further education in the UK is small, as Singapore has a well-established education system as well as sufficient places to cater for the demand. In addition, education is relatively cheap right up to pre-university. However, despite Singapore’s success in developing its pre-university provision, some parents turn to the UK because it offers a welcome alternative to a system that they feel is too competitive, or they may decide to send their children to the UK to avoid the provisions of the bilingual education policy, restricted curriculum or other government policies.
Singapore is predominantly a higher education market, with about 65 per cent of students undertaking undergraduate and 35 per cent postgraduate studies. There is limited interest in either the further education or independent schools sectors.
Three important factors understate the current state of play in the Singapore market. First, many of those now using our services are foreign students studying in Singapore, and their numbers are rapidly increasing as the Government aims to increase the numbers of foreign students studying in Singapore from the current 97,000 to 150,000 by 2015. Based on current statistics, approximately one-fifth of those applying through UCAS are third-country nationals, mainly from mainland China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Secondly, in its aggressive push to become an education service provider in the region, the Economic Development Board has also continued to pursue brand-name foreign universities to set up specialised campuses to serve an international market from Singapore. The number of students studying for foreign qualifications in-country – trans-national (TNE) programmes – was 36,700 in 2001. In 2004, this figure more than doubled to 80,200, with the UK holding the largest market share. The majority of these are delivered in partnership with local private institutions.
Thirdly, it is inevitable that as the job market becomes more competitive, many of those holding Bachelor’s degrees will see the need to upgrade themselves with postgraduate and / or professional qualifications to acquire additional knowledge and new skills to move up the career ladder. This is becoming increasingly evident, especially in the biomedical sector, where there is a dire need for PhD graduates to help push Singapore’s bid to attract multinational companies to move their high-end research projects to the country.
Hence, while the increasing international competition and more domestic provision make for a challenging operating environment, other factors, such as the increasing number of foreign students coming to Singapore to undertake diploma and foundation programmes, as well as the expansion of the TNE market and the increased demand for postgraduate qualifications, will up the demand for UK qualifications.
The British Council’s main centre (Napier Road) was refurbished in 2004. There are three branch centres including the Professional Development Centre in the central business district, Marsiling in the north and Tampines in the east.
Education UK has been supported since 1984. Currently, group counselling sessions are offered and the centre houses Education UK Partnership members’ prospectuses. Singapore also supports a country-specific Education UK website which features a pioneering MetaFAQ and ‘Get a UK Qualification in Singapore’ database. The latter was developed in 2004 to support UK TNE delivered in Singapore.
Our alumni strategy supports our Education UK promotion work as well as being a means of sustaining relationships with the UK amongst those who have studied there. We have successfully encouraged increased collaboration between the British Alumni (Singapore) and local alumni associations for individual UK institutions and will continue to do so under the auspices of the UK Alumni Presidents’ Council.
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