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: [email protected]
Ms Nikole Lee
Assistant Director, Corporate Communications
Council for Private Education
Tel: 6499 0351
Email: [email protected]
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
(2011)
No of PEIs
(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
(2011)
No of PEIs
(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
Vocational2 Preparatory3
Year
Total
Commercial
2011
338
174
82
52
30
2012
332
177
72
52
31
2011
232,000
63%
7%
11%
19%
2012
227,000
65%
6%
9%
20%
1
FSS4
No. of PEIs
Enrolment
1
Commercial PEIs offer a wide variety of post-secondary certificate, diploma and degree programmes.
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
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
8%
Bachelor
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 study6.
Fine and Applied
Arts
7%
Others
16%
Business
40%
Humanities and
Social Sciences
7%
Information
Technology
9%
Hospitality and
Personal
Services
21%
5
“Others” include English proficiency and Special Education courses.
Courses in other fields of study include those in Mass Communications, Health Sciences, Law,
Manufacturing, Architecture, Building and Construction.
6
2 Bukit Merah Central | #01-05 | Singapore 159835
e) Student Enrolment


Total cumulative7 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
5%
Others
4%
FSS
20%
Bachelor
courses
32%
Preparatory
9%
Diploma courses
22%
Certificate
courses
8%
g) PEI Staff
Items
2011
2012
Number of teachers8
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
115 EduTrust-certified
PEIs
177
72
52
31
Commercial
Vocational
Preparatory
FSS
Students
65%
6%
9%
20%
5,800 Courses
Courses
7%
17%
32%
20%
8%
11%
5%
Post-grad
Bachelor
Diploma
Certificate
FSS
Preparatory
Others
227,000 Students
Local students
International students
56%
44%
Nearly 70% of international students
(excluding those in FSS) are from
PRC, Vietnam, India, Indonesia
3,800 Cases
22% Complaints
Students
5%
32%
22% 17,500 Academic Staff
8%
2 in 3 Singaporean & Permanent Resident
20%
2 in 3 Part-Time
9%
4%
what do we mean by “quality”?
Prospective
Students
Private Education Institutions
Input
Graduates
Job Market
Output
Outcomes
Recognition
Structures Processes People Program Performance
‘Quality’ Framework
SECTOR PROFILE HAS
IMPROVED
6-year 24
4-year 202
1-year 106
35
new PEIs
3 in 5 have
4-year
registration
up from 2 in 5
one year ago
EduTrust
47
Provisional 68
1 in 3
registered PEIs
have EduTrust
certification
2 in 5 are
EduTrust
(4-year)
certified
41
PEI exits
STUDENTS CHOOSE
QUALITY
3 in 10 students in
non EduTrust-certified
PEIs
About 15% students in
EduTrust Provisional PEIs
7 in 10 students in
EduTrust-certified
PEIs
900
Bachelor Programmes
Nearly 85% students in
EduTrust (4-year) PEIs
64%
From Universities
Ranked in
Top 400 QS/THES
83%
Of Students in
Ranked Programmes
TOO MUCH VARIATION?
NOT ENOUGH DIVERSIFICATION?
No. of courses
Diploma contact hours range from
100+ to >600 hours
400
300
200
100
0
Business
Hospitality and Personal Services
Information Technology
100-200 200-300 300-400 400-500 500-600 600 and
above
No. of courses
No. of contact hours
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
40% of post-secondary courses are in BUSINESS
STUDENTS NEED
MORE CARE
Complaints
have dropped
1/5 from 2011
to 2012 to
850 cases
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
… however, close to
40% of complaints still involve FEES
and about 40% involve
74.5% to 69% in 2012
Customer Satisfaction index (CSISG)
Admin Support
and
processes
TEACHERS NEED
MORE TRAINING
No. Of Teachers
7500
7000
6500
6000
5500
5000
4500
4000
3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
…but only
Academic staff are generally
well qualified
Over 85% have at least a Bachelor degree
1/3 had some form of
pedagogical training
40% of PEIs said that they did not
invest in Teacher
A further
training at all.
30% spent less than $250
per teacher last year
SDALT
CFC For
SMS
Developed in
response to
industry feedback
3 vendor-led
consortiums have
been successful
First batch of
39 SDALT students
completed in
Feb 2013
Up to 105 PEIs may
benefit from
funding for up to 2
years starting 1 Apr
4th
Currently in its
batch, benefitting
over 120 PEI
academic staff
Beyond CFC, PEIs
will also enjoy IDA’s
iSprint support for
up to 1 year till
March 2016.
SPRING’s
Education
Innovation
S$10 million grant
to catalyse
innovation and
capability
upgrading
16 projects already
supported with
S$2 million
S$3 million committed
to support upgrading
projects by private
education SMEs, with
half expected to
benefit PEIs in 2013
FUTURE? QUALITY FUTURE
Consultation on initiatives to
Reducing
administrative
burdens
and
compliance
costs
raise quality
Educating
and
Supporting
Students
Industry
Development
Supporting
PEIs
Monitoring and Enforcement