MEDIA RELEASE 9 April 2013 Raising the Bar for Quality in Private - PDF document

MEDIA RELEASE 9 April 2013 Raising the Bar for Quality in Private Education 1. More than 300 participants from the private education industry gathered today at the inaugural Private Education Conference - "Raising the Bar on Quality” - to discuss ways to sustain and further raise the quality of private education. Representatives from over 120 private education institutions (PEIs), industry associations and experts, and supporting government agencies attended the conference. Senior Minister of State for Law and Education, Ms Indranee Rajah, officiated at the opening of the conference. Profile of the Sector Improved, But Areas for Improvement Remain 2. Following the setup of the Council of Private Education (CPE) in 2009, the profile of the sector has improved. Of the 332 registered PEIs, 68 per cent attained four-year registration periods or better, up from 46 per cent a year ago. The proportion of PEIs that achieved EduTrust certification also increased from 28 to 35 per cent between 2011 and 2012. In addition, the number of complaints against PEIs decreased by 20% over the same period. 3. However, there continues to be varying rigour and standards among programmes offered by PEIs. For example, the contact hours for diploma programmes in business, hospitality and IT ranged from just over 100 hours to more than 600 hours. Also, while there was an overall decrease in the number of complaints against PEIs, the volume of complaints remained significant at around 850 cases last year, of which 40 per cent related to fee-related disputes involving students. In addition, about two-thirds of PEI teachers had not received any form of pedagogical training, and 40 per cent of PEIs reported that they did not invest in teacher training. 4. More details on the private education sector as of 31 December 2012 and existing industry development initiatives are available in the attached factsheet. 5. Speaking at the conference, Senior Minister of State Ms Indranee emphasised that the duty the PEIs have to their students must go beyond purely contractual obligations, and their educational responsibilities to the students must be the primary focus. 6. To further uplift the quality of private education in Singapore, the Chief Executive of the CPE, Mr Brandon Lee, urged PEIs to work on improving quality in

three ways – to adopt sustainable, student-centric business models; to improve their infrastructure, including facilities, people, systems and processes; and to improve the quality of their academic programmes. He encouraged PEIs to take advantage of existing industry development initiatives to innovate and build capabilities. 7. In the coming months, the CPE will consult the private education sector on potential changes to the Enhanced Registration and EduTrust Certification frameworks, and other possible enhancements to the Private Education Act, with the aim to increase the effectiveness of the regulatory framework, and to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden on institutions. About the Council for Private Education The Council for Private Education (CPE) is a statutory board established in December 2009. Its mission is to raise standards in the private education sector through regulation, industry development and consumer education. The Council has implemented two regulatory schemes – the mandatory Enhanced Registration Framework and the voluntary EduTrust Certification scheme. The Council also provides student services and consumer education through its Student Services Centre, and seeks to improve capabilities in the sector through industry development initiatives. For more information, please visit the CPE website at http://www.cpe.gov.sg/ For media enquiries, please contact: Mr Andy Ong Manager, Corporate Communications Council for Private Education Tel: 6499 0363 Email: Andy_Ong@cpe.gov.sg Ms Nikole Lee Assistant Director, Corporate Communications Council for Private Education Tel: 6499 0351 Email: Nikole_Lee@cpe.gov.sg 2 Bukit Merah Central | #01-05 | Singapore 159835

FACTSHEET SECTOR LANDSCAPE (as at 31 December 2012) a) Number of Registered PEIs Period of Registration No of PEIs No of PEIs (2011) (2012) Six Years 21 24 Four Years 135 202 One Year 182 106 Total 338 332 b) Number of EduTrust-certified PEIs Type of Award No of PEIs No of PEIs (2011) (2012) EduTrust Award (Four Years) 34 47 EduTrust Provisional (One Year) 60 68 Total 94 115 c) Types of PEIs (classified by predominant type of course) Type of PEIs Year Total Commercial 1 Vocational 2 Preparatory 3 FSS 4 2011 338 174 82 52 30 No. of PEIs 2012 332 177 72 52 31 2011 232,000 63% 7% 11% 19% Enrolment 2012 227,000 65% 6% 9% 20% 1 Commercial PEIs offer a wide variety of post-secondary certificate, diploma and degree programmes. 2 Vocational PEIs offer courses in specialised/niche areas: Beauty and Spa; Hairdressing; Culinary and Hospitality; Nursing, Healthcare and Social Services; Electronics and Mechanics; Art and Design; and Performance Arts. 3 Preparatory PEIs prepare students for professional qualifications, particularly accountancy, as well as primary and secondary level examinations (e.g. GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels) . Also included in this category are schools providing special education. 4 FSS or Foreign System Schools provide primary and secondary education in accordance with international curricula, primarily to children of expatriates residing in Singapore. 2 Bukit Merah Central | #01-05 | Singapore 159835

d) Types of Courses Offered by PEIs In 2012, there were 5,800 different course offerings 5 by PEIs. The breakdown by  course levels is shown in the following pie chart. Others Postgraduate, 5% 7% FSS Bachelor 8% 17% Preparatory 11% Certificate 20% Diploma 32%  The pie chart below shows the distribution of the 3,300 post-secondary courses (diploma, bachelor and postgraduate) based on fields of study 6 . Fine and Applied Others Arts 16% 7% Business 40% Humanities and Social Sciences 7% Hospitality and Personal Services Information 21% Technology 9% 5 “Others” include English proficiency and Special Education courses . 6 Courses in other fields of study include those in Mass Communications, Health Sciences, Law, Manufacturing, Architecture, Building and Construction. 2 Bukit Merah Central | #01-05 | Singapore 159835

e) Student Enrolment  Total cumulative 7 student enrolment in 2012 was 227,000.  Of these: Items 2011 2012 Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents 54% 56% Part-time Students 40% 39% Studying in EduTrust-certified PEIs 58% 63% f) Enrolment by Type of Course Postgraduate Others 5% 4% FSS 20% Bachelor courses 32% Preparatory 9% Diploma courses 22% Certificate courses 8% g) PEI Staff Items 2011 2012 Number of teachers 8 12,000 17,500 Full Time Basis (%) 33 28 Teachers with Bachelor’s degree or higher More than 80% More than 80% Non-teaching staff 5,500 6,400 7 As PEIs do not have common enrolment periods or course durations, the use of cumulative figures, rather than snapshot figures in say December 2012, better represent the level of business activity and market share of PEIs. The cumulative figures represent the number of unique students enrolled with the PEIs for the year 2012, regardless of whether the students were still with the PEIs at the point of data collection. 8 2011 data excludes teachers from PEIs that have been exempted from the need to notify CPE of teachers deployed; 2012 data includes teachers from all registered PEIs. 2 Bukit Merah Central | #01-05 | Singapore 159835

h) Student Services Centre Cases Items 2011 2012 Total number of cases 5,100 3,800 Enquiries 76% 74% Complaints 20% 22% Feedback and Compliments 4% 4% 2 Bukit Merah Central | #01-05 | Singapore 159835

state of the sector progress made, more to go

snapshot model observations update future

332 Registered PEIs 227,000 Students 115 EduTrust-certified Local students 56% International students 44% Students PEIs 177 Commercial 65% Nearly 70% of international students 72 (excluding those in FSS) are from Vocational 6% PRC, Vietnam, India, Indonesia 52 Preparatory 9% 31 FSS 20% 3,800 Cases 5, 5,80 800 0 Cou ourses ses 22% Complaints Courses Students Post-grad 7% 5% Bachelor 17% 32% 17,500 Academic Staff Diploma 32% 22% Certificate 20% 8% 2 in 3 Singaporean & Permanent Resident FSS 8% 20% 2 in 3 Part-Time Preparatory 11% 9% Others 5% 4%

what do we mean by “ quality ”? Prospective Private Education Institutions Graduates Job Market Students Input Output Outcomes Recognition Structures Processes People Program Performance ‘Quality’ Framework

SEC ECTOR TOR PROFI FILE E HAS IM IMPROVED VED

24 6-year 47 EduTrust 202 4-year 68 Provisional 106 1-year 35 1 in 3 3 in 5 have 41 new PEIs registered PEIs 4-year PEI exits have EduTrust registration certification up from 2 in 5 one year ago 2 in 5 are EduTrust (4-year) certified

STUDENT DENTS CHOOSE E QUALIT ITY

3 in 10 students in non EduTrust-certified PEIs About 15% students in EduTrust Provisional PEIs 7 in 10 students in EduTrust-certified Nearly 85% students in PEIs EduTrust (4-year) PEIs Top 400 QS/THES 83% 64% 900 From Universities Ranked in Of Students in Bachelor Programmes Ranked Programmes

TOO OO MUCH VARIA RIATION? TION? NO NOT ENOU NOUGH GH DIV IVERSIFI ERSIFICATION TION?