21 July 2017

It has been found that Singapore students are still far from being adequately equipped for an increasingly technological economy and workforce. Recently, a comprehensive study conducted by International Computer Driving License (ICDL) Asia found that Singapore’s tertiary students overestimate their level of technological literacy.

The ICDL study, which was conducted between February and May this year, compared university students’ actual information and communication technology (ICT) literacy against their perceived proficiency. It involved students mainly between the ages of 20 and 22 from Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, Kaplan Singapore and PSB Academy. Students were tested on various technological competencies, such as web browsing, file and data management, word processing and spreadsheets The findings of the study were presented recently at the ICDL Digital Literacy Day at the Singapore Management University.

Students performed better in ICT concepts and file and data management, but poorly for word processing and spreadsheet applications. Overall, their technical competency was found to be below globally recognized benchmarks.

Several local universities have developed ways to integrate the instruction of technological know-how into the regular classroom curriculum. For instance, SMU business students are required to complete a compulsory spreadsheet course, entitled Computer as an Analysis Tool, which teaches them to model and solve business problems using commonly-used software.