Singapore’s publicly funded universities – the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and Singapore Management University (SMU), have said that they remain keenly focussed on building Singapore’s identity and paying attention to other intrinsic ideals, in spite of being torn with the materialistic pursuit of competing for global rankings.
Over the years, students and academics have placed more emphasis on global university rankings as a gauge of the worth of higher learning institutions. These ranking are conducted by world renowned academic consultancy firms like Quacquarelli Symonds and publications such as Times Higher Education Magazine.
Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung weighed in on this issue at last month’s Straits Times Education Forum held at SMU. He urged universities not to chase rankings “blindly” as this could lead to the country having top-ranked universities which are beholden to values imposed from without, to the neglect of Singapore.
NUS provost Tan Eng Chye said despite doing well in these rankings, NUS’s strategic plans are not based on them.
The universities said they will evolve with Singapore to meet its changing needs and deal with changes such as technological advancement.