03 November 2015

The private education industry has suffered a sharp drop in student enrollment.

Based on figures provided by the Council for Private Education (CPE) in its latest annual report, there are an estimated 77,000 locals and 29,000 foreigners enrolled in private commercial schools, which include the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and PSB Academy. This compares to about 100,000 locals and about 35,000 foreigners enrolled in these schools respectively three years ago.

Private schools attribute the drop in intake to the increase in public university places. The Government has pledged to increase the yearly intake for the six public universities from 15,000 now to 16,000 by 2020.