Page 26 - StudyTravel Magazine July 2014 Issue

tertiary

tertiary FoCuS SinGAPoRE

Singapore

Studying in Singapore is popular with nearby Asian countries and beyond. Bethan Norris takes a look at
some of the reasons why this country is fast becoming an education hub in the region.

ingapore has been styling itself in the future and Singapore, along with courses that are administered by the many
as an education hub for Asian Malaysia and South Korea, were identified as private providers in the country. “ERC
and other international students emerging contenders in attracting students Institute also provides programmes with our
S for more than 10 years and is from within and outside Asia. The report, partners like the University of Greenwich
currently home to internationally renowned released in January this year, stated, “Many in the UK, which can provide our students
universities and private institutions, as Western students consider Singapore to be with the opportunity to be affiliated with the
well as a number of off-shore campuses of a comfortable introduction to Asia that pro- international accreditation that they might
other foreign universities from the USA, vides them with a Western-style curriculum be seeking,” says Ong.
Australia, Germany and China. In 2002, in English at globally ranked institutions.” Mok also says that Kaplan has a number
Singapore’s Economic Development Board Yen Ong, Marketing and Sales of partnerships with high profile institutions
announced a target to attract 150,000 Consultant at ERC Institute www.erci.edu. from overseas. “Kaplan’s partners include
international students by 2015 and while sg says that their biggest student nationali- top-ranking universities such as Royal
this target may be ambitious, there were ties are from Asia. “Chinese, Indonesians Holloway (University of London), University
84,000 international students enrolled at and Vietnamese are our current top nation- College Dublin and Murdoch University just
private and state-run schools, universities to name a few,” she says, adding that “stu-
and polytechnics in 2012. “Singapore is a comfort- dents have the flexibility to opt for European
Jaclyn Mok from Kaplan www.kaplan. able introduction to Asia degrees with direct honours or Australian
com.sg says that their largest student nation- degrees offering double major options”.
alities are from East and South East Asian for Western students” With the majority of international
countries such as China, Vietnam, Malaysia students having an eye on their future career
and Indonesia, although a recent trend is for alities,” she says, identifying that India, options, Mok points out that their courses
the institution to welcome more students Korea and Vietnam are the best growth mar- are tailored to industry needs. “Our academ-
from Russia and Central Asia. “English kets. Ong goes on to describe the country ic programmes are developed in consultation
is the first language taught and spoken in as a melting pot of nationalities that is often with industry and reviewed based on the
Singapore and with the demands of glo- called the “New York of Asia”. She adds, latest employment statistics,” she says. “With
balisation, the prospect of improving their “With a stable government and economy, the rising demand for accounting degrees in
English in a cosmopolitan city has been a this has meant security and growth in many recent years and Singapore’s standing as a
big draw for students who choose to come to key areas which has enabled Singapore to financial hub, Kaplan launched a Bachelor of
Singapore to study,” Mok says. “The tropical be a financial and research hub. In the 2013 Arts (Hons) in Accountancy and Financial
climate in Singapore also appeals to Russian Universitas 21 ranking of National Higher Management awarded by the University
students. For students from Asia, studying Education Systems, Singapore was ranked of Portsmouth. This is an 18-month pro-
in Singapore is a more affordable option to ninth among the world’s best HE systems.” gramme structured to offer F1 to F9 exemp-
earn a recognised degree.” With an enviable reputation for quality tions for the ACCA qualification assessment
A recent report by Unesco entitled The education services, the opportunities to upon completion, allowing students to start
International Mobility of Students in Asia and undertake quality tertiary education courses a career in the accounting sector.”
the Pacific, identified that intra-Asian student in Singapore are further enhanced by the When it comes to marketing overseas,
mobility is likely to become a growth area prevalence of foreign university-accredited Ong says that they use a combination of
methods. “Agents, student outreach, adver-
International marketing tising both in traditional and digital means,”
Since Singapore launched its campaign to increase its number of international students by 2015, a she lists. “We constantly evolve our market-
number of other factors have hampered growth. in order to deal with issues regarding the quality of ing to stay in tune with the ever-changing
education, the government brought in the edutrust certification via the Council for Private education, consumer landscape.”
which ensures that private institutions recruiting international students meet minimum standards. While
the long-term impact is likely to be positive overall, it has impacted on international student numbers. There’s no doubt that international stu-
“More than half of the private schools have closed down,” says yen ong from erC institute. “and dents will continue to be drawn to the edu-
those who did not successfully obtain the edutrust certification can only recruit local students. Hence cational opportunities on offer in Singapore.
this has inevitably reduced the number of international students into Singapore. on the other hand, with
this regulation in place, it also assured the higher quality standards of all the private schools – such as Ong concludes, “Our outlook is bright as
erC institute which was among the youngest private school to obtain the four-year edutrust certification Singapore continues to be a city with very
in 2012.” jaclyn Mok from Kaplan also points to lack of knowledge about Singapore as a study destina- low unemployment and healthy growth out-
tion as well as visa issues as having a negative impact on enrolments to Singapore institutions. “Kaplan look. It is one of the safest cities in Asia and PHotoS: SHutterStoCK
has a strong relationship with the local authorities and industry associations and works closely together
to work out these issues when they arise,” she states. a growing pool of talent is attracted to live
and work here.” bethan@hothousemedia.com

24 | Study travel Magazine | july 2014