University Places & Educational Quality
The Education Minister was asked if the rising number of tertiary education students would result in the erosion of the quality of graduates and what it means to be one.
Perhaps we should look at countries like the UK that did away with polytechnics and converted them to full universities. Yes, the result was the rise in the number of graduates, but talking to hiring managers may reveal a different picture. Most of the former polytechnics are still struggling to gain any academic position. Some have even been accused of compromising standards. Such is the situation that many would automatically throw out any resumes from applicants from these schools. There is in truth, an under-class amongst university graduates.
This is also the case in Australia, where some of the newer universities have been embroiled in scandals over academic integrity.
Unfortunately, Singapore is emulating these two countries by trying to establish a higher education industry. The focus is revenue generation and churning out students, not really bothering if students are actually equipped for the workforce.
Well and good if universities only take in the top students, but these days they take all sorts of students. 45% of each cohort goes to university, compared with 20% 20 years ago. So what used to be a good tool to sieve out job applicants has been eroded.
Honestly, has anyone bothered to do an analysis on the return on a degree education in say, MDIS or Kaplan?
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.