Education System in Singapore

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The complete control and management of Singapore’s education is in the hands of Ministry of Education (MOE).  With continuous endeavour from MOE, today Singapore can be considered to have a strong and well- reputed education system. As per recent study Singapore is ranked fourth in terms of World’s Best Education System.

Singapore has six national universities, namely the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University of Technology & Design, Singapore Institute of Technology and SIM University.

There are more than 300 private commercial, IT, Fine Arts and language schools’ in Singapore. The courses offered range from certificate to postgraduate levels.There are also foreign Specialised Institutes in Singapore that have either set up campuses here or have tie ups with the local polytechnics to offer cutting – edge programmes in niche areas.

The Private Institutes offers degree in partnership with popular universities from countries such as United states, the United Kingdom and Australia. These universities confer the degree and certification. Hence, private institutes provide students with the opportunity to attain qualifications from these foreign universities whilst studying in singapore’s affordable and comfortable environment. For Postgraduate studies in Private Institutes admission requirements vary from programme to programme. The duration for Master in private institutes may range from 12 months to 16 months. The GMAT, GRE Scores are not compulsory for admission.

The Private Institutes offer bachelors degree programmes in almost every subject. The duration of the bachelors course is 3 years to 4 years. The admission requirements vary from programme to programme. The SAT, TOEFL and IELTS are not compulsory for admission.

There are three main types of challenging graduate programmes in the Public Universities: Doctoral (Ph.D.), Masters’ and the Graduate diploma.

Doctoral: All doctoral programmes are primarily research based. Duration may range from 3 years to 5 years. Students can take admission for PhD course after completion of their master’s degree. PhD students need to submit a research proposal. Student need to appear for GRE/GMAT & TOEFL/IELTS exams for admissions.

Masters: Master degree programmes are primarily designed to prepare students for practice of profession. The duration of graduate courses may range from one year to two years depending upon the university. The various Master degree are MA, MS, MBA, MFA etc. Generally, an applicant must have atleast a good bachelors degree and two years work experience. In addition, an applicant whose native language or medium of instruction for the bachelors degree is not English must have a good TOEFL score or IELTS score. Applicant applying for admission in engineering, computer science, science should also preferably have good GRE scores. Those applying for business-related courses should have obtained either GRE or GMAT scores.

Graduate Diploma: Is offered as a terminal qualification and provides limited professional training in a specific niche. The Graduate diploma is often favoured by those students who seek additional exposure to an area of interest. It is a one-year full time course of study for graduates.

A Polytechnics education is a popular route in Singapore for students inclined towards practise-oriented studies at the diploma level. They offer a wide range of courses such as Engineering, Business Studies, Mass Communication, Design and Info-Communications. Specialised courses such as Optometry, Marine Engineering, Nautical Studies, Nursing, Early Childhood Education and Film are also available for those who wish to forge a specific career path. All courses are conducted in the English medium and follow a credit accumulation modular system that allows students to pursue and complete their courses at their own pace. Under the system, students will take a prescribed set of modules and accumulate credit units for those modules they have passed. Modules are assessed immediately upon completion of the required academic work in a semester.

It takes 3 years to complete a full-time diploma course. Students that have completed class 10 or 12 in India, are eligible for polytechnic courses.