06 October 2019

Two-thirds of the undergraduates studying medicine and dentistry at Singapore’s local universities come from households earning more than $9,000 a month.

This was revealed by the Ministry of Education recently, confirming worldwide trends that students from higher socio-economic groups dominate medical schools.

MOE has previously announced that bursaries for medicine and dentistry courses would be significantly increased to ensure they remain open to students from all backgrounds.

These courses are the most expensive university programmes because of the higher costs involved, including include laboratories and other facilities.

Overall, about a fifth of Singaporeans enrolled in these two courses across NUS and NTU have received financial aid over the past three years, said the MOE.

04 October 2019

The National University of Singapore was placed 25th globally in the Times Higher Education rankings.

Furthermore, NUS’ position as Asia’s No. 1 university was lost to Tsinghua University of China in this year’s ranking exercise.

On the other hand, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) improved its standing by climbing three places to 48th globally.

Times Higher Education’s chief knowledge officer Phil Baty said that “NUS has not in any way diminished” in its performance. He said: “It is simply the case that China’s top two universities continue to make extraordinary gains, fuelled by decades of reform and investment, huge increases in research productivity, but more recently also in research quality and some important international collaborations.

An NUS spokesman said: “As Singapore’s flagship university, we remain focused on our mission of educating, inspiring and transforming in the areas of teaching, research and entrepreneurship, as we strive to make positive contributions to Singapore and the global community.”

NTU said it improved its scores in teaching and research. Said NTU’s president Subra Suresh: “While the NTU community is pleased with its rapidly growing reputation around the globe by very different metrics and assessments, we are primarily driven by our passionate pursuit of impactful work in education, research and innovation.”

02 October 2019

The Build On Singapore 2019 Hackathon was organised recently by Amazon Web Services, the National University of Singapore, and the Government Technology Agency (Govtech). The competition attracted participants from the Institute of Technical Education, junior colleges, polytechnics, and well as Singapore’s universities.

During the competition, students tapped their own real-life issues as inspiration to create novel technological solutions.

The themes of the competition were based on issues drawn from everyday life, such as helping drivers find the best routes and cheapest places to park, or creating ways to improve school campuses.

Singapore Polytechnic’s team was inspired by one of their members, a foreign student holding multiple jobs to pay her tuition fees. Nexus, the team’s creation, requires users to carry out various quests to improve their skill sets, for which they are matched with potential employers for paid part-time jobs.

One NUS team put together NoSqueeze, a mobile app that integrates a student’s schedule with the bus schedule, creating a customised timetable to help the user avoid crowded buses or being late for school.

29 September 2019

Medical student Toh Ker Yin, a second year at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, had to overcome many hurdles in her path to academic success.

She said, “I didn’t think I had a very good chance because my results weren’t perfect.”

She was inspired to become a doctor in her second year of junior college when her father fell ill.

But with support from friends, she worked hard for the A levels.

Ms Toh has since received a few bursaries that cover 60 to 70 per cent of tuition fees. She also works part-time as a retail assistant or beauty product promoter during the school holidays to help with expenses.

28 September 2019

Even as Singapore embarks on a digital transformation, there is a severe shortages of skills in several sectors, especially the info-communications and technology (ICT) sector. According to industry reports, there was an estimated shortfall of 30,000 technology specialists at the end of 2017.

In the ICT sector, the skills shortage has meant that companies have relied on importing foreign labour. That, however, has lowered wages, leading to Singaporean workers avoiding this sector.

New educational pathways need to be created so that workers would be able to access new employment opportunities that companies in the digital economy are offering.

Additionally, Singapore faces a tight manpower situation — a problem compounded by an ageing workforce and a low birth rate.

A report by the Institute of Policy Studies has proposed that the Ministry of Manpower and the Ministry of Education be combined to ensure that Singaporean workers have the skills the economy needs. This is because work and study are phases that are increasingly converging, with education no longer a linear process but a continuous cyclical process that follows industry cycles.

28 September 2019

Three alumni of Nanyang Business School have come together to donate $250,000 to start a fund to give needy students the chance to go for overseas exchange programmes or internships.

They are Ms Carolyn Choo, chief executive of Worldwide Hotels; Mr Danny Yong, founding partner of hedge fund firm Dymon Asia Capital; and Mr Henry Tan, group CEO of accounting firm Nexia TS.

The trio, who are all alumni advisory board members of NBS, started the fund as there were needy students who gave up overseas exchange programmes or internships as they could not afford them.

A further 29 donors gave close to $40,000 to the fund.

27 September 2019

At the recently-held annual Polytechnic Forum, around 300 students from Singapore’s five polytechnics developed a better understanding of national issues through discussions, group work and dialogue with industry and government leaders.

The polytechnic students attending the forum developed many ideas on combating threats to Singapore’s economic and security landscape, and promoting a more cohesive and responsive community. Some of these ideas show great promise.

For instance, one student suggested that void decks of Housing Board residential blocks be used as designated community spaces where residents can share stories and resources, just as people did in the kampung during Singapore’s early years.

Another student called for a mobile app to be developed to connect people with common interests, an idea that drew inspiration from the myResponder app for people to respond to crises around them.

A panel will be formed to help articulate a youth vision for the Republic in 2025 and create an action plan to achieve it, Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Sim Ann said.

22 September 2019

Singapore Institute of Technology graduates commanded higher pay than their predecessors last year, according to the latest graduate employment survey conducted by the university.

SIT graduates took home a median gross monthly salary of $3,300 in 2018, up from $3,200 the previous year.

The proportion of SIT graduates who found full-time work six months after completing their final examinations was 82.9 per cent, just like in 2017, and this was up from 77.1 per cent in 2016.

SIT said in a statement that more than 70 per cent of its graduates from its own degree programmes in last year’s batch received job offers from companies through the university’s integrated work study programme.

Meanwhile, the latest graduate employment survey for NUS, NTU, SMU and SUSS shows that 81 per cent of graduates were in full-time permanent work last year, and the figure was 86 per cent for SUTD graduates.