In Singapore, learn to be more than book-smart

A world-class
education system awaits in Singapore at the Singapore Institute of Management
(SIM)

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SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 13 November 2018
– Mention the word education, and there will be those
who instantly look towards the vaunted Finnish system — one that emphasises
learning through playing, with human values, rather than clinical statistics,
the topmost priority. Yet another school of thought prescribes that to be
successful, it’s more a matter of studying smart and attaining balance, rather
than simply studying hard.

 

With an
equally lauded reputation as its Scandinavian counterpart for producing
top-tier graduates, Singapore is progressively taking its seat in the latter
camp. This comes as its government continues to implement policies that move
away from an obsession with grades, by focusing more on character
scorecards and reflection journals, ensuing in a long overdue shift
in mindset.

 

Future-proof skills and values the way
forward

This trend can
be attributed to how workers of the future have to compete across borders for
the best education, jobs and growth. That’s why a singular focus on academics
will no longer suffice, in light of how artificial intelligence and automation will
disrupt industries and render certain jobs obsolete. A
collaboration between Cisco and Oxford Economics revealed that
roughly 4.3 million workers will be displaced by 2027, with an additional 2.2
million workers disrupted, resulting in a total of 6.5 million job moves.

 

Taking this knowledge
into consideration, students in Singapore are being trained to strengthen
their competencies in collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, resilience
and empathy, adding on to the foundational skills like literacy and
numeracy they already possess. Essentially, old-school rote learning is making
way for knowledge application to real-world scenarios and soft skill-based
interactions.

 

Stellar results: a time-honoured Singaporean
tradition

However, this
does not mean that Singapore is abandoning its post as a global leader in education.
In fact, its teenagers consistently
emerge on top when faced with tests in maths, reading and science,
as judged by the influential Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA).

 

Besides the
PISA rankings, Singapore’s
education system has also attained recognition as the best in Asia in preparing
students for the future, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit
(EIU) index in 2017. As such, it’s evident the well-oiled talent factory is
functioning as optimally as ever.

 

A key reason for
this continual success? Look no further than a pool of highly qualified educators.

 

The art of effective teaching

Singapore’s
successful future-skills education system is led by its teachers, who are
selected primarily from the top 5% of graduates to teach challenging concepts,
as well as excite students by linking lessons to relatable situations outside
the classroom. Raising the status of teachers has been one of the ways to entice
high-calibre students to take up the profession.

 

Professor
David Hung, Associate Dean of Education Research at the National Institute of
Education remarked, “The culture of Singapore has moved to a place where the
profession of teaching is more highly valued by families and parents. Two
decades ago this wasn’t the case. Pay is important. The substantive quality of
teachers as observed by the public is important.”

 

Teachers
are also entitled to 100 hours of professional development per year, and their performance is appraised on a yearly basis across
several metrics, including
contribution to the academic and character development of their students. This
places them firmly in line with the positive education movement, which seeks to
create caring and trusting relationships within schools — of which a large,
quality selection exists.

 

Convergence of top education institutions

Singapore has
firmly established itself as a key knowledge hub in Asia. In addition to its six
autonomous universities (National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology
and Design, Singapore Institute of Technology, and Singapore University of
Social Sciences), several other world-class universities have also established
a significant presence domestically. Among these are the Massachusetts
University of Technology (MIT), Johns Hopkins University, and the Wharton
Business School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

They are
complemented by Private Education Institutions (PEIs) who have garnered greater
popularity of late, with some students favouring a shorter degree completion
period. This newfound confidence in PEIs has been further enhanced with measures
to protect their interests, such as compulsory annual graduate
employment surveys to track graduate employment outcomes and minimum financial
standards.

 

PEIs also add
to an already diverse range of degrees and faculty mixes to choose from. For
instance, the Singapore Institute of Management Global Education (SIM GE), a
non-profit institution, offers courses from the University
of Birmingham taught directly by faculty lecturers, and the renowned
University
of London, one of the world’s oldest universities.

 

Going places with SIM GE

The
award-winning SIM GE lays claim to over 50 years of experience in the private
education arena, and its leadership in this field has led to a fraternity of
150,000 graduates, with an annual enrolment of 19,000 students, 20% of which
are full-time international students from more than 40 countries.

 

More than just
a multi-cultural learning environment, SIM GE provides students with
career-ready skills and knowledge, through over
80 full-time and part-time courses offered in partnership with
prestigious universities. Partner universities include:

 

From the UK

• University of
  London: One of the oldest universities in the world established in 1836
• University of
  Birmingham: Named University of the Year for Graduate Employment¹
• The University
  of Warwick: Ranked 54th in the world²
• University of Stirling: Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence

 

From the US

• University at
  Buffalo, The State University of New York: Ranked 38^th among public
  universities³

 

From Australia

• University of
  Wollongong: with top-ranking faculty for Computer Science in School of Computer
  Science and Software Engineering
• RMIT
  University: 14^th highest ranked university in Australia⁴
• La Trobe University:
  Ranked in the Top 50 universities for Hospitality and Leisure Management⁵

 

Programmes
aside, top-notch facilities that support learning can be found across SIM GE’s
campus of over 100,000m², like the largest management library in
Singapore, a Financial Training Centre, and over 100 well-furnished lecture
theatres and seminar rooms. From academic to career development programmes, SIM
GE has built a reputation as a global institution which settles for nothing
less than the best for its students.

 

¹The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2016

² QS World University Rankings, 2019

³U.S.
News and World Report’s Best Colleges Ranking, 2019

⁴QS
World University Rankings, 2018

⁵QS
World Rankings by Subject, 2017