Building excellence in higher education: Singapore's experience

• Main Authors: DE MEYER, Arnoud, ANG, Jovina
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2021
• Subjects: Universities; higher education; Singapore; Asian Studies; Higher Education
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/6930; https://search.library.smu.edu.sg/permalink/65SMU_INST/naremq/alma99473379602601
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Singapore has built in about 30 years a very performing system of higher education, including 6 universities, 5 polytechnics and the Institutes of Technical Education. In this book I explore how the system was built, what the policies were that made it successful and what the future challenges will be. The focus is really on the universities and on the success factors e.g. fitness for purpose, diversity in the system, flexibility in implementation, a high level of support for university led research. In the last three chapters I address the challenges, some of them specific to Singapore, e.g. the shrinking cohort, other more universal e.g. the role of technology in higher education.