Singapore to develop 3 new tertiary institutes of excellence
Posted: 19 May 2009 1158 hrs

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SINGAPORE: Singapore is looking into developing three new institutes of excellence in the tertiary education sector – the Singapore Institute of Applied Technology, a new university in partnership with the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a new medical school.

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen revealed these plans at a news conference on Tuesday.

Dr Ng said the Singapore Institute of Applied Technology will be set up as a distinct entity within the Education Ministry, which will be responsible for planning, managing and implementing degree programmes offered by foreign universities, in partnership with Singapore's five polytechnics.

The new institute will work with the foreign universities to offer degree courses from 2011. These courses will be mostly conducted in the polytechnic campuses and the foreign universities will award the degrees in their own names.

There will be places for 2,000 full-time students and 1,500 part-time students yearly by 2015. The duration of full-time courses is likely to be two years, while part-time courses can be expected to take up to four years to complete.

Senior Minister of State for Education S Iswaran will act as adviser to the taskforce appointed to look into expanding opportunities for polytechnic graduates.

As for Singapore's new university in Changi, which will open its doors to students in 2011, it will have the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as its partner.

The university will focus mainly on the disciplines of science, engineering, information systems and architecture, and aims to be a high-quality research-intensive university.

A core team of experienced professors from MIT will play the lead role in developing the curriculum and in teaching undergraduate students. It will have an undergraduate population of about 4,000 students and a significant number of postgraduate students.

As for the setting up of a new medical school in Singapore, the Education Ministry and Health Ministry have asked the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to submit a proposal on it.

The university has formed an advisory panel, chaired by NTU president Dr Su Guaning, to advise it on the matter.


- CNA/so