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SINGAPORE : Having five or six universities in Singapore will not cause an over-supply which could lead to graduate unemployment, says Dr Tony Tan.
This is provided the new universities are carefully conceptualised.
Dr Tan, the Advisor to the Committee on Expansion of the University Sector, shared some of his preliminary ideas at the NTU Alumni Club's 20th Anniversary celebration on Saturday evening.
There is a demand for university places but care must be taken to ensure courses at universities are aligned to the needs of the Singapore economy.
Dr Tan, who is also the Chairman of the International Academic Advisory Panel, outlines three steps which have to be taken to expand the university sector.
The first step, and top priority, is to add 800 to 1000 university places by next year.
This will help ease the immediate shortage in places and lessen the anxiety of parents and students.
Dr Tan says the committee should aim to announce its plans on increasing admissions during the budget debate in Parliament next March.
The second step is to develop a conceptual plan to guide development of the university sector here.
This include studying the possibility of setting up a new university or two to three niche campuses affiliated to the present universities.
One which could be set up at Outram could focus on health sciences and the other, a liberal arts college specialising in financial services.
Dr Tan says: "We are in great need of people. In fact, one of the issues which is holding back the development of the private banking business in Singapore is in fact there are not enough private bankers. I think that is a very large growth area in Singapore, to grow Singapore as a financial hub for banking, foreign exchange trading, wealth management and investment management."
He says such a campus could be located in the financial district at Marina South.
And it could be established in partnership with a liberal arts college in the US or universities in Europe.
The third niche campus could specialise in engineering and technology, which can be based in the Buona Vista area.
These niche campuses can become universities in their own right after they have built up their credentials.
Polytechnics are also encouraged to partner with local or overseas universities to offer degree programmes in specialised areas.
The final step is to implement the Conceptual Plan once it has been approved.
Dr Tan adds: "This may take between five to ten years and would involve putting up concrete proposals, meeting up with suitable partners and doing the preparatory work. However, once the conceptual plan has been approved, the details of implementation, while time consuming, would not present insurmountable obstacles.
"My big worry is this - that if we don't take this ambitious path, that we don't set our sights high, come 2015, 2020, we may find that our economy is being held back because we don't have enough trained people, that we have been too conservative in our projections."
The Committee will gather ideas from focus groups and make field trips to overseas universities.
The Conceptual Plan could be submitted to the government for approval next July or August. - CNA/ch
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