Quality of private education institutes of higher learning in Singapore

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Desmond Choo, Tampines GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what are the measures that have been taken to improve the quality of private education institutes of higher learning in Singapore; and (b) whether graduates of such institutes are a good source of foreign manpower to complement the local workforce.

Response

1. All registered Private Education Institutions (PEIs) must adhere to baseline standards established in the Private Education Act and Regulations. These standards are in place to safeguard consumer interest and promote informed decision-making.

2. SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) also implements the EduTrust Certification Scheme (EduTrust) to raise sector performance and institutional quality. The latest version of the EduTrust Guidance Document, last revised in August 2023, sets minimum requirements for critical areas such as student protection and academic quality. It also includes new requirements to benchmark additional outcomes (e.g. service quality and operational standards) against national or international standards.

3. PEIs train both local and foreign students. Based on the PEI Annual Returns exercise, 36% of full-time bachelor External Degree Programme graduates from PEIs were foreigners. The PEI Graduate Employment Survey (GES) 2022/2023 found that 55% of the foreign graduates who responded to the survey found full-time employment.

4. It is for employers to assess if PEI foreign graduates make good hires. SSG's focus is to enhance the capabilities and employability of our local workforce through SkillsFuture initiatives, including the recently implemented SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme.