Fourth University Coming Up

The government has decided to open a fourth university. It has been decided that the fourth university will have a unique characteristic of its own, and have its own identity. The new university will have its own strengths and will not only provide more places for university students but also provide more variety as well. From what I infer, this university caters more to polytechnic students as compared to junior college students. Yet the university should not restrict its intake to only polytechnic students, and will give everyone a wider variety of subjects and degrees to choose from.

A mere 23 percent of every batch make it into Singapore universities. PM Lee hopes that with the new university, 30 percent of the batch will be able to receive tertiary education in Singapore, and Singaporeans will be more educated, thus increasing the standard of Singaporeans.

I believe another factor Singapore wants to have a fourth university is due to the increasing brain drain from Singapore. Many students who have completed polytechnics decide to go oversea for further education and they remain there. In the long run, many of Singapore’s competent people will be working overseas instead of contributing to Singapore. As such, I believe the fourth university also hopes to attract more people to study in Singapore, from both overseas and in Singapore, and wishes to prevent further brain drain from Singapore.

The fourth university should also cause a positive impact on the current universities in Singapore. While the current universities of Singapore enjoy many intakes, the fourth university will add pressure to the current universities, forcing them to think of new ways that showcase their strengths over other universities. When there is a variety, people will compare which university would best cater their interests. With the inclusion of the fourth university, it will help to keep all the universities in Singapore current and updated and in the forefront of leading research.

However, I think the government should be more careful when planning the fourth university. The closure of the University of New South Wales Asia is evidence that it is not easy to manage a university. The fourth university will be public-funded and thus we should not waste tax-payers money if the fourth university should fail. The government should closely investigate what had gone wrong with UNSW Asia and not repeat mistakes from UNSW Asia. UNSW Asia had an established and reputable name, but yet it failed. Thus we should tread carefully when planning the 4^th University.

I believe the 4^th university will help many polytechnics in Singapore and am looking forward to it.