Students have different outlooks and abilities, and society has different needs. Furthermore, no one knows what's going to happen beyond the next ten years. As a responsible nation, Singapore therefore needs to offer new and different types of university education in order to prepare its next generation for such a future.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister cum Minister for Finance Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam is Chairman of the International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP). In an interview with EduNation, he spoke about Singapore in an age of a changing global environment and technologies, and the range of university models that will be needed to meet the challenges of such a shifting landscape. In doing so, he talked both about the special characteristics of the country's new universities as well as the expanded role of its existing ones. As Mr Tharman described it, the goal is not to "change the direction of the whole university sector" but to provide new pathways including those for applied education. He also talked about the educational objectives both for our universities and for the education system as a whole.
Different Skills and Mindsets Needed
As Singapore develops into a knowledge-based economy and more emphasis is placed on innovation, it will require different kinds of talent to handle different kinds of needs. If too many undergraduates receive a general academic education, there is risk of them being unemployed upon graduation, and the understandable social dissatisfaction that this brings. This can already be seen happening not only in the West but in some Asian countries as well.
"Whether you look at the US or Europe or any other advanced society, you will find that there's a limit to the demand in the employment market for people with a general academic degree. Some of the Northern European systems, on the other hand, have been more focused historically on a technical and applied professional education and have therefore produced large numbers of graduates with these professional degrees. Unfortunately, the more prevalent Western and Asian systems are still too academically-biased. Employers know this very well but education systems have been generally slow to adjust," said Mr Tharman.
The Singapore government has always restricted the number of graduates majoring in general academic education, and that is why the employment rate of fresh graduates has generally been very high. However as the society becomes more affluent, more families are able to afford to send their children overseas for university education, and a degree in general academic education is a common choice. But whether the skills of these graduates are a good match for the needs of the future is something that is an increasing source of worry.
"This is one reason why we have stepped in as a government to shape the type of education that is being provided at university level. We want to meet young Singaporeans' aspirations not just in university but when they eventually enter the world of work. We have to tailor the education they get so that it meets the economic and social needs of the future.
"It is risky to put all your eggs in one basket as you may end up producing too many people of the same ilk, of the same mindset and skills. It is a more robust education strategy, for both individuals and society, if we nurture diverse skills and diverse mindsets and outlooks as well," explained Mr Tharman.
The New Applied Pathway for Universities
Singapore's new pathway of applied education at the university level has some unique characteristics.
"The idea of an applied pathway at the university level is not new. Among the top universities globally, MIT has distinguished itself from others in this respect. Several Northern European universities have been pursuing the applied approach for some time now. But the idea of a curriculum where design is infused across disciplines is something MIT and Singapore felt we could do in a more holistic way in a new university, in a green-fields setting. It's easier to make this innovation when you are starting a new school. The Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) is an exciting development for that reason.
"Likewise the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) - the basic idea is not new, but what is unique is that SIT builds on the well-reputed local polytechnic model, which means its entrants have been receiving an applied education since they were 16 - which is quite unusual internationally, because the polytechnic model in most countries is only available after the age of 18. This makes SIT unique in melding what you do post-secondary school, post-16, with a university education. It is not necessarily superior to what is being done internationally but it offers different possibilities, and I think it will be a valuable complement to our existing system."
Our Polytechnics Have Won People Over to Applied Education
Singapore was a British colony, and has had a predominantly Chinese population. Our society has therefore been influenced by the education systems of both Britain and the East, with a traditionally heavy academic bias.
"The legacy of the two systems was a strong one. The first was a British educational system which was heavily academically-biased, and hierarchically-layered - the best students in the UK went to Oxbridge and the next tier went to a second layer of academic institutions and so on. Secondly, we inherited a predominantly Chinese educational tradition which was also geared to nurturing an academic elite, for reasons that go far back in history. Both were powerful influences on social attitudes in Singapore, and the combination of the two made for an intensely academic system.
"Fortunately the government has done major upgrading of both the hardware and the software of our polytechnics in the past 20 years, at the same time that we were improving the school system. As a result polytechnic graduates are popular with employers, and this has in turn changed the bias some parents had against polytechnics. The fact that we have very academically capable students choosing polytechnic courses over those offered by the junior colleges (JCs) is also an illustration of this. With SIT now upgraded to a university, parents will have further confidence in the applied pathway to educational advancement.
"The Singapore polytechnic system was inherited from the British, but we made a strategic decision not to convert our polytechnics into universities. We decided on a different route from that taken in Hong Kong and Australia, who converted their polytechnics to universities just like the British did. Employers and many educationists in Britain now lament the loss of the polytechnics.
"For a long time our polytechnics were essentially focused solely on providing a good diploma-level education, even as they were expanded and strengthened. Then, in 2005, the government encouraged the polytechnics to collaborate with overseas universities to offer specialised, applied degree programmes. We expanded this 'Polytechnic-Foreign Specialised Institutions (Poly-FSI) initiative' further from 2007 onwards. The idea was to expand opportunities for polytechnic students to advance themselves locally while staying within their specialised, industry-relevant fields, instead of having to go abroad or switching to more academically-oriented degrees. It was only after these partnerships had been successfully up and running for a time that SIT, which was formerly responsible for managing these new programmes, was itself made into a university in its own right in 2012."
However, with the addition of this new pathway of applied education at the university level, Mr Tharman does not believe that students will now flock to the polytechnics in significantly larger numbers.
"What is important is not the exact numbers to JC or poly, but in not having a thick black line dividing the two in terms of the differences in curriculum and learning methods. They should be part of a continuum, with a few JCs having features that are borrowed from the polytechnic model, and some polytechnic courses providing strong academic foundations. So as that continuum evolves you don't need to force the numbers too much in one direction or another to achieve a planning target. Over time I think we will get a welcome fluidity between the JC and the polytechnic systems. And the basic idea must be to provide routes for advancement, whichever path a student takes.
"We aim to produce graduates of the highest quality: scientists, inventors, social workers and health professionals, financial engineers and so on. But to develop mental abilities, we need different approaches. In fact it starts in the schooling years. That is why the government set up the School of Science and Technology for example - to give students a chance to do something real, to manipulate, to develop their craft. There's a very close connection between the mind and the body. The best craftsmen are usually brilliant in their own way, be they the best designers and carpenters or the best technologists."
A Carefully Planned Expansion of the University Sector
SUTD opened its doors in April last year, 12 years after the setting up of the Singapore Management University (SMU). But the setting up of the fifth and sixth universities was announced by the Prime Minister, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, in his National Day Rally speech a mere four months after SUTD had started teaching. As a consequence, the university cohort participation rate which had stood at 30 per cent from 2015 onwards was upped to 40 per cent from 2020.
Is there any significance behind the accelerated expansion of Singapore's higher education?
"Yes, there was a long interval of 12 years between the setting up of the third and fourth universities. Why? The basic approach then was to expand the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), our first two universities, and to ensure they developed strong reputations at the same time. They still had room for expansion then. However, we have since reached the limits of their expansion - NUS has an enrolment of 37,000 students while NTU has 35,000. They are in fact very large national universities by international standards. So any further expansion of the university sector has had to come about through new institutions.
"Setting up a new university is a very careful decision, and cannot be taken rashly. It gives everyone great confidence when we have developed a few good universities by international reckoning. Once you've achieved that, you feel you're able to expand the space and develop new institutions with confidence, and without high risk to the university system as a whole.
"There's another reason why we're expanding university enrolment, and this has to do with the fact that our school and technical and polytechnic system has done well to train Singaporeans to a high level where a larger percentage of them are now able to go on and get a university degree. If you don't provide such an opportunity locally, more people will go abroad, at a greater cost to their families, and they may not necessarily study in disciplines that will enable them to get good jobs in the future. These are the considerations that led the government to decide to increase the local, publicly-funded university participation rate to 40 per cent by 2020."
There has been a lot of experimentation with our higher education models, but although they may be unique, Mr Tharman does not feel that we are in a position to export them to the rest of the world.
"I think some humility is required. We don't have some unique answer that meets the needs of all societies. We have made innovations, and that's a reflection of the fact that we've succeeded in providing a good education system and we're no longer able to borrow and import lessons in a simple way. When we learn from schools or universities abroad we always adapt the lessons before we implement them in Singapore. I feel that as a small nation, if we are able to groom our young people into individuals who can create a gracious, inclusive society and an innovative economy, we have fulfilled our goal."
More Research in the Social Sciences
 Singapore's universities have made great strides in scientific research with the help of A*STAR and the National Research Foundation, and have gained a worldwide reputation. However, Mr Tharman feels that greater effort needs to be put into expanding research in social science from here on out.
"It is not that the social sciences are doing badly. I mean, economics, business and law graduates in Singapore are very highly regarded. But I think when it comes to research and to developing peaks of excellence, we can achieve more with the social sciences. In some areas we already have those peaks, for instance in some areas of international law, but these are very specific niches. We want to take social science research to a much higher level, and that means providing an attractive career in social science teaching and research, and also developing an ecosystem around the universities that includes more transitioning between academic and government circles. We really have to develop the whole ecosystem for this to succeed.
"Research funding is one way to incentivise talent development. It's also useful in its own right because I think there's a lot of untapped potential in social science research in Singapore and Asia generally. "
Mr Tharman feels that this new direction will help on the one hand in the universities exploring new fields of excellence outside of science and technology, and on the other with spearheading the necessary understanding and solutions in social science fields that are crucial for so many countries, including Singapore. One example of this is in the universal challenge of keeping medical costs under control while expanding care with an ageing population, and providing a sense of equity and fairness. "This is a very important issue that requires thinking not just in medicine but in the social sciences, economics, business and even in the logistics of care networks.
"While everyone understands that prevention is better than cure, preventive care is a matter of public psychology, education and changing social norms. Preventive care is the most efficient form of healthcare and it costs the state, society and the individual far less over time. How we reach this goal will be aided by research and collaboration among different fields of expertise. And this is just one example. Other areas like housing, or the environment and new water technologies will also need in-depth solutions that research in the social sciences can help advance."
In addition, many problems have arisen because of the rapid development in Asia, and research in these areas has been lacking. Work done here will help fill a gap.
"Asia is going through an immense transformation, particularly through urbanisation. The need to develop liveable cities and to avoid social dislocations is really critical. There is also the challenge of ensuring a sense of cohesion in the midst of racial and religious diversity in several of our societies. I think there will be a greater premium on economists and sociologists, as well as people who are involved in thinking through the social dimensions of urban planning. There will be a greater premium on proactive thinking that filters into government policies as well as into community initiatives.
"Singapore has a distinct vantage point for research. Everything to do with education, making a city liveable, and achieving harmony in a multiracial and multi-religious community is central to how Singapore governs itself. Singapore's universities can perform research on other societies too, and develop reference points for both Singapore and other Asian nations.
"With this in mind, the Ministry of Education is carefully considering the possibility of setting up a council for social science research. Developing research in the social sciences is not just about the research itself, but includes developing talent and providing them with the relevant access to data and policy thinking."
Developing the Ability for Independent and Imaginative Thinking
Talking about higher education in Singapore, Mr Tharman also places much emphasis on grooming students to think critically and innovatively.
He proceeded to talk about what he felt were the three main objectives of education: firstly to develop strength of character; secondly to nurture the skills and knowledge that every citizen needs to participate with confidence in a modern economy; and thirdly to develop in individuals the ability to think for themselves and think in original ways. All three objectives are important with regard to each level of the education system, but the ability to think for yourself is something that needs particular emphasis at the tertiary stage. All three objectives serve to groom individuals who can contribute and make a difference to society.
"Singapore does quite well with regard to the second dimension - skills and knowledge. We do very well by international standards. But even in this area, we always need to update the curriculum, the way we train teachers and lecturers, and the way in which the whole process of learning takes place so it prepares students well for the realities of a modern economy and society. Although we are doing well in this respect, it is a matter of constant improvement, and the refreshing and rejuvenating of our systems."
The setting up of universities for applied education is one of the ways the government is refreshing the system for this second goal.
"With regard to the first and third objectives, I think greater emphasis is required as we evolve our education system. Not because we are lagging behind other countries, but we want to do much better for ourselves; to do better in developing strength of character when people are young, and also increasingly, to develop the ability to think for oneself. And the last dimension, thinking in original and imaginative ways, becomes more important as Singapore becomes a society that is driven by innovation in every field of life. It need not be in high science or developing entirely new technologies. It is often about constant improvement - using imagination on the job will increasingly be an advantage for both the individual and society as a whole."
Mr Tharman feels that all three objectives are important at each stage in a young person's education, but there's a different emphasis at each stage. He said, "The foundations for developing the first dimension, strength of character, are most importantly laid down during the school years, and cannot wait till the university stage. Conversely the ability of students to think for themselves is something that needs especial emphasis at the tertiary stage, regardless of whether the degree programme is theoretical or applied.
"This third dimension cuts across all disciplines and all methods. It's a habit of mind: the willingness to question, to imagine something different, and the desire to constantly improve what we see around us. Both our established and new universities need to focus on encouraging this habit of mind. I get the impression that too much of university learning is a carry-over from our school and junior college system, in terms of the method of teaching and learning, the reliance on lecture notes, and the type of and focus on examinations for example. This does not help us develop thinking and imaginative individuals.
"We are diversifying our system of meritocracy. We are broadening it to recognise different types of talent and merit. But the standardised exams are still at the core of the school system, to preserve transparency and a sense of fairness as students progress from one stage of education to the next. However, our universities have an important advantage in this respect. They do not need to worry so much about the transition to another level of education, because university is the final stage of the pre-employment education system. After that you enter work life, and your exact scores in university do not matter. At most, the class of your degree will matter at the start of your working career, and continual learning takes over from there. Universities therefore do not require the same degree of standardisation that we need in a meritocratic school system.
"This is a very important distinction. The universities are sending students not to the next level of education, but into real life. This means they have much greater freedom to break away from standardised learning and testing, greater freedom to encourage students to explore and innovate."
Pride in the Past, Looking to the Future
Mr Tharman was full of praise for our national universities who take in a large number of students each year yet manage to achieve strong international reputations. This is "a little remarkable", but he stressed that our universities still need to evolve and meet the requirements of a new era.
 "Singapore's ability to set up new universities has been built on many years of developing a strong and rigorous foundation. That foundation gave employers confidence, and it would not have been possible without it to experiment with new pathways. As we advance, and recognising the realities of global competition, we know that to sustain living standards in Singapore and to raise them even further, we have to enter the space of creative activity in every sector of our society, and I mean creativity in the very broad sense of the term.
"It is not just about the MNCs (multinational corporations). Many of our small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are doing quite well, here and abroad. They study the market, what the gaps are, look for things that existing players are not doing, and they find a niche for themselves. It may not be path-breaking technology, but it's a value that they can bring to the market. They take advantage of the Singapore brand, and at the same time add to the Singapore brand. We need more of our young people to help Singapore companies to venture and do well, so that local SMEs remain at the core of our economy.
"No matter what area of innovation we are talking about, the innovator's state of mind is never satisfied - never satisfied with the state of things and always wanting to make things better.
"That's a state of mind that each new generation must have, and it is not just about material progress. Societies advance in leaps when enough individuals want to take a less conventional path, and create something new. Our universities need to make the most of their autonomy, and do all they can to groom a generation of young people who enjoy thinking critically and imaginatively, who care and who want to keep making things better for their fellow citizens."
Translated by: Lee Xiao Wen
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当新加坡进入知识型经济，更重视创新的年代，社会需要各种各样的人才来应付不同的需求。普通学术学位的大学生如果培养太多，会产生大学生毕业即失业的风险，形成对社会不满、焦躁的现象。这种情况已经在某些西方和亚洲国家出现。
过去多年新加坡大学在科技研究方面，通过新加坡科技研究局（新*科研）和国家研究基金的协助很有成果，赢得国际的美名。尚达曼认为接下去新加坡的大学有必要在社会科学领域的研究工作加大力度。
