24 June 2017
Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung has said that the number of university places available in Singapore needs to be capped, and that a country’s education system needs to be aligned with the needs of the economy. He has also mentioned that the government aims for a cohort participation rate of 40 percent by the year 2020.
Four years ago, the university participation rate was 30 percent, and this year, it is expected to reach 35 percent, or equivalently, 15,900 places at the six public universities.
Many have questioned if capping university places is elitist, as it would favour junior college students over polytechnic students because more JC students gain places in the local universities than their peers from the polytechnics.
However, polytechnic students are increasingly given wider options in Singapore. For example, in the past several years, a significant number of university admissions offered to polytechnic graduates have come from SIM University, now called the Singapore University of Social Sciences, and the Singapore Institute of Technology — two universities specifically established to offer niche degrees to polytechnic students.
The majority of employers here, including government agencies, have different (and higher) pay scales for graduates, and vary pay according to applicants’ degree class. Singapore employers, including the government, need to change the way they recruit, recognise and reward workers. Employers should also re-examine the practice of paying non-graduates less, if they are performing the same job as graduates.