04 May 2016

Last year, one out of every three Singapore university entrants came from the polytechnics.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has revealed that nearly 34 percent of the freshman cohort at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore University of Technology and Design, SIM University (UniSIM) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), were polytechnic graduates.

A spokesman for Ngee Ann Polytechnic said that poly graduates have more options today. An education policy expert at the National Institute of Education also noted that students’ aspirations are linked to the job market’s bias in favour of degree holders, despite recent government statements that a degree is not essential to succeed in the workplace.

The median monthly starting salary for polytechnic graduates last year was $2,100, compared with $3,300 for university graduates.

Junior colleges have been the traditional route to a degree programme in Singapore. In recent years however, a significant number of students who could have qualified for a place in a junior college have opted for a diploma course at one of the polytechnics.