04 September 2020

According to the latest Times Higher Education rankings, the National University of Singapore has retained its position as the world’s 25th best university and third in Asia.

Nanyang Technological University moved up one place to the 47th position this year.

Times Higher Education assesses universities on 13 performance indicators which are grouped into five areas: teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income.

NUS said it was heartened to be ranked among the leading universities in the world and Asia.

NTU said the Times Higher Education ranking is yet another indicator of its continued upward trajectory in all the major global educational indices.

Educators and university administrators have long argued that these university rankings should be halted, and effort spent instead on supporting struggling students and academics.

31 August 2020

SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will introduce more courses to assist mid career professionals in taking up roles in the built environment sector.

SSG has stated that around 900 opportunities in the sector will be progressively made available from this month, with support from various training providers, including the BCA Academy, Institute of Technical Education, National University of Singapore and Singapore Polytechnic.

The courses that SSG will introduce are in areas such as construction and facilities management, security and environmental services.

These opportunities are part of the SGUnited Skills Programme, a full-time training programme ranging from six to 12 months tailored for workers looking to upgrade their skills.

SSG said it works with the various training providers and industry leaders to ensure that the courses are designed to equip trainees with in-demand skills that companies are looking for.

28 August 2020

Five community development councils (CDCs) held a week-long event consisting of over 50 online workshops, webinars and masterclasses. The topics covered included professional advice on employability such as how to prepare for virtual interviews, and skills such as personal grooming or video editing. Services like career coaching were also available.

Four of the district mayors – Ms Low Yen Ling (South West district), Ms Denise Phua (Central Singapore district), Mr Desmond Choo (North East district) and Mr Alex Yam (North West district) – held a media conference during the week-long event. They were also joined by SkillsFuture Singapore chief executive Ong Tze-Ch’in, Employability and Employment Institute chief executive Gilbert Tan and chief executive and founder of artiste management company FLY Entertainment Irene Ang.

Ms Low, who is Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, as well as for Trade and Industry, said the topics that were covered were “tactical and current”.

Ms Phua added that “learning agility is the new currency to survive and thrive in this new age”, and learning today is no longer confined to classrooms or official school years.

SSG’s Mr Ong said the collaboration between the CDCs will bring the SkillsFuture national movement closer to the community.

28 August 2020

Singapore has over 30,000 teachers but our teaching force is among the youngest in the world. The median age is only slightly above 35 years old, compared with around 43 to 45 worldwide.

Singapore teachers are also among the most hardworking, clocking in over 30 school teaching hours per week excluding time spent on extra curricular activities.

Japanese teachers reported working even longer hours, at 54 hours in a week in total.

MOE has previously highlighted that most Singapore teachers expressed satisfaction with their job, and that young teachers bring “diverse perspectives and renewed energy into the teaching force”.

In recent years MOE has increased the support staff in schools, including providing more school counsellors and allied educators.

26 August 2020

Teachers in Singapore will soon have the opportunity to receive more professional training. A new SkillsFuture road map has been drawn up for them so they can acquire new skills and better meet the changing needs of students.

This SkillsFuture road map is part of an updated road map for teachers, called SkillsFuture for Educators.

Teachers are encouraged to acquire at least 20 hours of professional development in each of six key areas over a period of five years. One key area is in assessment literacy, or being able to gauge students’ progress and learning gaps through different types of assessment. Other areas are learning how to teach classes of mixed-ability students and using inquiry-based learning. The last two focus areas involve making use of digital technologies to reinforce learning.

Currently, teachers have 100 hours they use every year for professional development, which includes courses, research projects or peer networking groups. Completing these 100 hours is not compulsory, although most teachers here take advantage of them.

26 August 2020

Singaporean students enrolled in Australian universities are hoping that they will soon be able to return to Australia to continue their studies.

Last week, Australia’s Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham said South Australia will allow 300 international students to return to the state as the first part of a trial phase to restart the Australian education sector.

From next month, higher education students can fly from Singapore to Adelaide.

Lessons in Australian universities were moved online in March before some face-to-face sessions were introduced from last month.

The move is being made alongside broader measures to establish green lanes with countries for business, diplomatic and other essential travel.

Education Minister Lawrence Wong said on Friday that students studying overseas at institutions where distance learning is not offered as an option by the school will be allowed to travel.

23 August 2020

Hong Kong gastroenterologist and academic leader Joseph Sung will be joining Nanyang Technological University as the new dean of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Professor Sung will be concurrently appointed as NTU’s senior vice-president (health and life sciences) and appointed to the tenured faculty rank of Distinguished University Professor.

The formal start of Prof Sung’s tenure at NTU will be April 1 next year. He will succeed Professor James Best, who will be retiring after nearly seven years as dean of the medical school.

Prof Sung was the vice-chancellor and president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) from 2010 to 2017, and has held the title of the Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine at CUHK’s department of medicine and therapeutics since 2007. He has served on the board of Singapore’s National University Health System and as a council member of the University of Melbourne.

NTU president Subra Suresh said he is looking forward to working with Prof Sung, adding: “NTU is well positioned to focus our interdisciplinary strengths on tackling grand challenges in healthcare, and we are delighted that an individual of Prof Sung’s calibre will lead this next chapter of development at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.”

22 August 2020

SP Group has contributed $20 million dollars to launch a joint lab with Nanyang Technological University.

The lab, located in NTU, will focus on energy-related projects in the areas of asset management and network operations. It is intended to house 60 researchers plus 85 undergraduate and postgraduate students, and serve as a training platform for SP Group’s engineers.

The lab will also allow researchers to analyse and monitor SP Group’s assets in real time to predict future network problems before they arise.

Also, SP Group has contributed 10 million to NTU towards setting up two endowment funds with the university which will support two outstanding NTU faculty members in their research and scholarship as well as boost early-career scientists and engineers’ research in energy and power systems.

The $30 million collaboration will “enhance the resilience of Singapore’s electricity network, improve the reliability and efficiency of supply to consumers, and nurture experts for the energy sector”, SP Group and NTU said in a joint statement.