08 November 2017

The Ministry of Education will be reviewing the funding and delivery arrangements of master’s programmes at Singapore’s six autonomous universities. Autonomous universities in Singapore receive government funding and are subject to government oversight in curriculum planning and delivery.

According to Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, over $70 million will be redirected away from higher educational courses. The money will instead be used to provide continuing education and training under a new SkillsFuture scheme over the next three years.

Vocation-based courses may be delivered in a bite-sized format that can be accumulated and lead to graduate certifications.

Some of the universities, such as Singapore Management University, are already doing this. SMU Academy, the university’s lifelong learning unit, will be offering financial technology modules that can be “stacked up” towards a Master of IT in Business. At SMU Academy, about two-thirds of its 80 or so courses will be offered under the SkillsFuture Series.