the bachelor of technology programme at nus professor poo aun neow faculty of engineering, nus 19 th...

The Bachelor of Technology Programme at NUS

Professor POO Aun Neow

Faculty of Engineering, NUS

19th October, 2010, NUS

WCCEE 2010

Singapore Facts & Figures

NUS

Area: 690 sq km Population: 5.0m Residents: 3.7m

GDP: S$265b (US$204b) GDP per Capita: S$53,143 (US$40,880)

( 2009 figures - http://www.singstat.gov.sg/stats/keyind.html )

Singapore’s successful development since independence some 50 years ago has been due in no small part to the high value it placed on education, by both government and many in its population.

WCCEE 2010 17-19 October, Singapore.

Education in Singapore

“Singapore believes in education and, for 2007, about 20% of the national budget has been allocated for education with almost half of this on tertiary education.”

“Our polytechnics and universities play a critical role… for a growing and increasingly high value economy.”

(Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister of Education. 28 March 2007)


“Every student must … go as far as you can.”

“Our education system has been successful ... We will continue to improve.”

“We will create multiple pathways … the Government is investing $5.5 billion over 5 years to build up Continuing Education and Training.”

(Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong , August 2010)

Education in Singapore


Singapore Education System

Figures based on Year 2009

The school system


Primary School Leaving Examination

Compulsory Primary (6 Years)

Secondary Schools (4 years)

GCE 'O' Level Examination (Age:16)

Inst. of Tech. Edu.(2 years)

Polytechnics(3 years) Pre-University

(2 years)

98.1% of cohort

27.7%42.9%21.4%

48,000 students

10 y

ears

13 y

ears

12 y

ears



Age: M 20 F 18


Polytechnics(3 years) Junior Colleges

(2-3 years)

GCE 'A' Level Exam

IndustryYr 2

B.Eng

(6,300)

(11,000)

(4,200)

Engineering Education

Many polytechnic graduates aspire for an engineering

degree. But university places are limited.


(4 years)



Age: M 20 F 18



(2-3 years)

GCE 'A' Level Exam

IndustryYr 2

B.Eng

(6,300)

(11,000)

(4,200)

Many go overseas right after polytechnic.

Engineering Education Overseas Studies

Many others left after working and saving for a few years. This caused significant disruptions

to their employers’ operations


(4 years)



Age: M 20 F 18



(2-3 years)

GCE 'A' Level Exam

IndustryYr 2

B.Eng

(6,300)

(11,000)

(4,200)

And many more were not able to fulfill their dreams because of

family commitments.

Engineering Education Overseas Studies


(4 years)

Bachelor of Technology at NUS

Introduced in 1995 primarily: To provide an opportunity for polytechnic graduates

working in the local industry to study for a good engineering degree without having to leave their jobs and families.

To contribute to the development of the engineering manpower needed for Singapore’s increasingly knowledge-based economy.

Operating Parameters: To be financially self-sustaining. To maintain the high academic standard.


Approach Take full advantage of its position within NUS with

its well-established BEng Programme, high quality staff and excellent teaching facilities.

To reduce cost, time and effort, avoid re-inventing the wheel.

Aa far as possible use existing systems, operating procedures and policies and adjust only to meet the special needs of the BTech students and the BTech Programme.



Program Structure All students admitted must have polytechnic

diploma and preferably some working experience.

Students granted exemptions of one year of the four-year full-time B.Eng programme – BTech curriculum maps the final 3 years of the 4-year BEng course.

Courses specially tailored for students with polytechnic background working in industry.




Age: M 20 F 18



(2-3 years)

GCE 'A' Level Exam

IndustryYr 2

B.Eng

(6,300)

(11,000)

(4,200)


B.Tech

(370)


(4 years)

Programme delivery Use the same staff teaching the BEng courses, but

remunerate them “on a consulting basis” on a willing-buyer/willing-seller basis.

Fully utilize the same laboratory and other physical facilities during the “3rd shift”. Such excellent and expensive facilities would otherwise become obsolete as time passes anyway.

Classes are held only during the evenings and on Saturdays, as all students hold full-time jobs.

No “long vacation” to allow students to complete in shorter time.



Some key numbers Currently 5 programmes: Chemical, Electronics,

Industrial & Management, Manufacturing, and Mechanical.

Student enrolment: 1200 Graduated: 1900 Tuition Fees: S$36,000 (US$27,000)

Or S$9,000 (US$6,750) per year Profile of students:

Age: 20 to 60 years; Median: 30 Also from China, India, Myanmar, etc.



Accreditation Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) Professional Engineers Board (PEB) Engineering Council (UK) to Master of

Engineering level Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB) of

Singapore and thus recognized under the Washington Accord.



Bachelor of Technology Programme

Some Contributions of Programme Contribute to local community and industry, without cost to

FoE/NUS/public. (Save taxpayers $150m thus far?) Appreciated by many of its graduates:

“Without the second chance provided by the BTech Programme, I would never have had the chance of getting a degree and upgrading myself…” a graduate from Class of 2004

Additional income welcomed by staff, both academic and non-academic, and graduate students.

Good annual surpluses. (Breakeven enrolment: 300) Faculty finds teaching BTech students a different useful

experience, good industrial contacts.


Admission Statistics

Admission Statistics

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Academic Year

Nu

mb

er Applications

Admitted

Student Enrolment Statistics

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

Academic Year

No

. of

stu

de

nts

Graduate Statistics

BTech Graduating Class

0

50

100

150

200

250

1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Year

Nu

mb

er o

f g

rad

uat

es

Performance of BTech students

WAM vs Total Admission Points

All Graduates

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Admission Points

Weig

hte

d A

vera

ge M

ark

s


Performance of BTech students

WAM vs Diploma Points

All Graduates

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

Diploma Points

Wei

ghte

d A

vera

ge M

arks



Comments by external examiner

“Good course, well executed serving a real need, in short… excellent.

“They (the students) felt the course had been very worthwhile and were now looking forward to moving to better paid jobs.

“…the graduates deserves greater respect for having achieved the same academic level whilst holding down a full-time job.”

(Professor John Midwinter, vice-provost at UCL and past President of IEE)



Performance of Graduates

In a recent survey among our graduands:• 98% were promoted after joining the B.TECH

programme with about half just before or after completing their course.

• Close to 70% indicated that the B.TECH course contributed directly to their promotions.

• 100% indicated that what they study in the B.TECH course were useful to their work with almost 70% indicating that these were useful to a large extent.


End of PresentationThank you.


the bachelor of technology programme at nus professor poo aun neow faculty of engineering, nus 19 th...

Documents

minister of education

tertiary education

continuing education

singapore facts figuresnusarea

engineering manpower

level examindustryyr

good engineering degree

knowledgebased economy