Educational services of universities in Singapore are in high demand in the international market due to the fairly high quality of the services offered. At one time, the country's authorities made a lot of efforts in order to significantly raise the level of education, making it the basis of the country's innovative economy. Today we can say that all investments paid off in full, and the state took a leading position in the ranking of the most technologically developed countries.
Singapore Education System
The educational system of the country is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, which controls all stages from kindergarten to postgraduate education. It is the deep integration of all levels of education that allows us to ensure a high level of quality of knowledge acquired at universities in Singapore. In addition, the quality of knowledge is also enhanced by intensive student exchange with foreign universities.
Higher education in the country can be obtained at the National University of Singapore, the National Technological University, at the Singapore University of Management or at several foreign universities, which have branches in Singapore.
In each university, educational programs at all levels are widely represented, including postgraduate practice. In addition, it is possible to defend doctoral dissertations and conduct research in research centers.
State educational policy
One of the main principles of organizing the country's educational system is meritocracy - an approach whereby the best educational institutions and the most prestigious programs enter applicants who have shown the greatest abilities, regardless of their origin and social status.
However, the true cornerstone of the entire education system is its bilingualism. In 1966, it was decided to introduce English as a universal neutral language for communication between representatives of various ethnic groups living in Singapore. However, despite the fact that all Singapore residents are fluent in English, they also require good command of their native language. This skill is also tested upon admission. However, this usually does not concern foreigners.
National University of Singapore: History
The history of the country's largest and most influential university began in 1905 with the founding of a medical college - the oldest educational institution in Singapore.
A key figure in the history of the university is Tan Yak Kim, who, on behalf of all non-European communities in the city, has asked Governor General Sir John Anderson to organize a medical school, whose graduates could help improve medical care.
In 1912, the school received a donation of 120,000 from King Edward Vll, and a year later was named in his honor. In 1928, the medical school, which had grown significantly by that time, received college status, which reflected its real position in the academic system.
Medical School Development
In 1948, the School of Medicine was merged with Ruffles College, created to develop social sciences and arts two decades earlier. As a result of this merger, the University of Malaya appeared, which was supposed to provide access to higher education for residents of the Malay Federation and Singapore.
In the first two decades, the university showed incredible growth, as a result of which two actually independent institutions were formed. One remained in Singapore and the other in Kuala Lumpur. The final registration of the University of Singapore as an independent institution of higher education happened on January 1, 1962.
The modern structure of the university
However, the transformation did not end on giving the status of an independent university. In 1980, following the set course for improving the quality of higher education, the government decided to merge the University of Singapore and Nanyang University.
Such a move was to standardize the educational system and help promote the English language as the main one for higher education.
In addition, in the 80s, a fundamental decision was made to create a center on the basis of the University of Singapore to support and study technological entrepreneurship. As part of this program, a consulting center and a business incubator have been created.
International ratings
In the ranking of the best universities in Asia, National University of Singapore is consistently ranked first. And in international rankings, it competes with the leading American and British universities at the appropriate level.
The status of the best university in Singapore is ensured through a diverse and ongoing inter-faculty exchange within the university. The existence of a research center allows for the connection between education and science.
In addition, according to the teaching staff, the legacy of the British system is also affecting. After all, Singaporean statehood and the higher education system evolved with the direct participation of British colonial officials. One of the most important officials for the formation of all of Singapore's administrative systems was Sir Ruffles.
Tuition and financial support
The state system of Singapore guarantees education to all citizens of the country, regardless of their level of well-being. In order for talented and hardworking students from low-income families to gain access to quality education, the state and numerous private foundations subsidize educational institutions at various levels: from primary school to the National University.
Tuition at universities in Singapore is high and depends on the chosen specialty, citizenship and degree of involvement in the educational process. Since the university offers many different programs, the cost is significantly different, for example, the cost of studying at the Faculty of Arts for citizens of Singapore for part-time employment is 4750 Singapore dollars, which is approximately 220,000 rubles.
At the same time, obtaining a dental education for a foreigner at the National University of Singapore will cost 50,000 Singapore dollars, which will amount to 2,300,000 rubles.
However, gifted students can rely on partial or full coverage of the cost of training through special grant programs involving competitive participation. Currently, more than 40,000 students from all universities in the country use the support program to one degree or another.
Singapore Technical Education
While the National University specializes in the humanities, medicine, and the arts, the accumulation of knowledge in the technical fields takes place mainly at the Nanyang Technological University.
The educational institution, existing since 1955, occupies the 19th place in the ranking of the most prestigious technical universities in the world. However, recently, not only technical and engineering specialties are taught in this educational institution.
In addition to technical disciplines, the university can study entrepreneurship, biology, art and design, as well as some medical disciplines.
Structure of Nanyang University
One of the new and rapidly developing areas of Nanyang Technological University of Singapore is the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Arts. This school offers training in the following areas:
- communication research, advertising and journalism;
- design and art;
- English and Chinese literature, philosophy and linguistics;
- economics, sociology and public administration;
However, the largest division of the university is the College of Engineering, which focuses on the best personnel and important resources. The institute is engaged in the development and production of high-precision equipment and new technologies used in the most advanced fields of activity. Most of Singapore's exports are based precisely on the work of scientists and engineers who graduated from this institute.
According to both students and teachers, all universities in Singapore have modern, well-equipped campuses. Each building of the educational institution is a unique architectural phenomenon, on which a talented architect worked. Very often you can find references to the University of Singapore with a cube on the roof. As a rule, in this case, the biological unit of the Technological University of the country is meant.
University enrollment
The prestigious international status of Singaporean universities and the highest quality of the services provided in them provide a consistently high interest from applicants not only from Singapore itself, but also from other Asian countries, as well as from around the world.
The answer to the question of how to enter the National University of Singapore is that for this you need to be a well-informed, English-speaking applicant. After all, the university’s official website says that the university expects the future student to have excellent English proficiency, as well as the ability to pass the entrance tests, about which information is provided when contacting the Office for the Admission of Foreign Students.