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

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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

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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,
fficiated 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

bligations, 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

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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

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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) Year Total Type of PEIs Commercial1 Vocational2 Preparatory3 FSS4

No. of PEIs

2011 338 174 82 52 30 2012 332 177 72 52 31 Enrolment 2011 232,000 63% 7% 11% 19% 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.

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d) Types of Courses Offered by PEIs



In 2012, there were 5,800 different course offerings5 by PEIs. The breakdown by course levels is shown in the following pie chart.  The pie chart below shows the distribution of the 3,300 post-secondary courses (diploma, bachelor and postgraduate) based on fields of study6.

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. Postgraduate, 7% Bachelor 17% Diploma 32% Certificate 20% Preparatory 11% FSS 8% Others 5% Business 40% Hospitality and Personal Services 21% Information Technology 9% Humanities and Social Sciences 7% Fine and Applied Arts 7% Others 16%

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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 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. Postgraduate 5% Bachelor courses 32% Diploma courses 22% Certificate courses 8% Preparatory 9% FSS 20% Others 4%

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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%

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state of the sector

progress made, more to go

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snapshot model

bservations

update future

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332 Registered PEIs

115 EduTrust-certified

Commercial Vocational Preparatory FSS PEIs 177 72 52 31

227,000 Students

Local students International students 56% 44% Post-grad Bachelor Diploma Certificate FSS Preparatory Others Courses 7% 17% 32% 20% 8% 11% 5%

5, 5,80 800 0 Cou

urses

ses

Students 5% 32% 22% 8% 20% 9% 4%

17,500 Academic Staff

2 in 3 Singaporean & Permanent Resident

2 in 3 Part-Time

3,800 Cases

22% Complaints

Nearly 70% of international students (excluding those in FSS) are from PRC, Vietnam, India, Indonesia

Students 65% 6% 9% 20%

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what do we mean by “quality”?

Structures Processes Performance Input Output Outcomes ‘Quality’ Framework Private Education Institutions Job Market Program People Recognition Prospective Students Graduates

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SEC ECTOR TOR PROFI FILE E HAS IM IMPROVED VED

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3 in 5 have 4-year registration up from 2 in 5

ne year ago

6-year 4-year 1-year 24 202 106

1 in 3 registered PEIs have EduTrust certification 2 in 5 are EduTrust (4-year) certified

EduTrust Provisional 47 68

35 new PEIs 41 PEI exits

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STUDENT DENTS CHOOSE E QUALIT ITY

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7 in 10 students in EduTrust-certified PEIs

3 in 10 students in non EduTrust-certified PEIs

Nearly 85% students in EduTrust (4-year) PEIs

About 15% students in EduTrust Provisional PEIs

900

Bachelor Programmes

64%

From Universities Ranked in Top 400 QS/THES 83% Of Students in Ranked Programmes

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

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200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

No. of courses

40% of post-secondary courses are in BUSINESS

No. of contact hours

100 200 300 400

100-200 200-300 300-400 400-500 500-600 600 and above

Business Hospitality and Personal Services Information Technology

No. of courses

Diploma contact hours range from 100+ to >600 hours

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STUDENT DENTS NE NEED ED MORE RE CARE RE

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Complaints have dropped 1/5 from 2011 to 2012 to

850 cases

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% … however, close to 40% of complaints still involve FEES and about 40% involve

Admin Support and processes

Customer Satisfaction index (CSISG)

74.5% to 69% in 2012

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TEA EACHERS ERS NE NEED ED MORE RE TRA RAIN INING ING

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500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500 7000 7500

No. Of Teachers

Academic staff are generally

well qualified

Over 85% have at least a Bachelor degree

…but only 1/3 had some form of

pedagogical training

40% of PEIs said that they did not

invest in Teacher training at all. A further 30% spent less than $250 per teacher last year

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First batch of 39 SDALT students completed in Feb 2013

SDALT

Currently in its 4th batch, benefitting

ver 120 PEI

academic staff Developed in response to industry feedback Up to 105 PEIs may benefit from funding for up to 2 years starting 1 Apr

CFC For SMS

Beyond CFC, PEIs will also enjoy IDA’s iSprint support for up to 1 year till March 2016. 3 vendor-led consortiums have been successful 16 projects already supported with S$2 million

SPRING’s Education Innovation

S$3 million committed to support upgrading projects by private education SMEs, with half expected to benefit PEIs in 2013 S$10 million grant to catalyse innovation and capability upgrading

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FUTURE QUALITY FUTURE ?

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Monitoring and Enforcement

Reducing administrative burdens and compliance costs

Consultation on initiatives to

raise quality

Educating and Supporting Students Industry Development Supporting PEIs

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