24 July 2016
The University of Adelaide is closing down the private school it runs in Singapore with the philanthropic organisation Ngee Ann Kongsi.
The closure of the Ngee Ann-Adelaide Education Centre in Singapore was announced in a joint press release. It is expected to affect the enrolment of some 700 students.
The university has been running undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses in Singapore in fields such as business, computing and nursing. The majority of the lectures are conducted by academics from the university.
No specific reason was cited for the closure of the centre. Passing mention was made of the fact that since the set-up of the centre 18 years ago, the global higher education market has changed and does not favour “brick and mortar delivery”, referring to programmes being run in campuses.
Despite the exit of several private schools in Singapore over falling enrolment, Dr Susie Khoo, chief executive officer of the joint venture, told The Straits Times that the student numbers had grown from 500 last year to 700 this year, and that the school was financially sound.