How much it costs to get a degree

There is an article in the Sunday Times today with a table showing the comparative costs of getting a degree from countries like Australia, US, UK, Germany and China and what it would cost for a Singaporean to study in Singapore.

The numbers, it can cost up to $262k for an Australian degree, $217k for US, $141k for UK, $64.6k for Germany and $57k for China. These numbers include living expenses and accommodation.

The cost of getting a degree in Singapore for a Singaporean is between $30k to $87k for tuition fees alone, excluding living expenses. For living expenses, a sum of $60k to $100k can be added to give the equivalent full cost of getting a degree.

For Singaporean parents that have to send their children overseas for a degree, the difference to pay can be quite substantial in the case of Australia, UK and USA.

NUS ranked Number 8!

The Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking system has ranked NUS as the 8th top best university in the world. NUS, according to this system, is ranked higher than Princeton and Imperial College of London. And since Yale is not in the top 10, Yale must now rank lower than NUS. This is a great honour, said NUS Provost Tan Eng Chye, a recognition of how good NUS is today.

What are the implications? When NUS was ranked much lower and like unknowns, there was a need to boost its credential by cooperating with other higher ranked universities like Yale and Imperial College. NUS is now ranked higher than these two great universities. Would it thus not really necessary to be linked to them, not that it is not good, but in terms of rubbing off some of the glitters? With such a high ranking, there is really no longer any necessity to be have joint campuses with other top universities as only a few are better ranked than NUS, like Cambridge or Harvard.

Looking at it from another angle, all the lesser rank universities will be forming a beeline to be linked to NUS. And this is a great money making opportunity to lend our good repute, the name of NUS, to other lesser known universities, the same formula as Yale NUS. A slight problem is that there may be a need to hire more American and western professors to make it desirable.

Another good repercussion to this high ranking is that employers must also be forming a beeline to hire NUS graduates. True or not? No need to hire foreign graduates from western universities and Third World universities. This high ranking must be added in the testimonials of NUS graduates to prove how good and the type of pedigree they are.

And our students need not have to go overseas to study in lower ranked universities like Yale and Imperial College. NUS is better. Can save a lot of money too. The Govt too can save a lot of money by sending their scholars to NUS now.

This ranking has many good economic implications and savings for the Govt and parents whose children wanted to go overseas. No need to do that anymore. NUS is the place to go, the place to be.

New University tuition fees for AY 2013/14:

Source: The Straits Times

ELIADEMY, A FREE ONLINE CLASSROOM

Eliademy, a free online classroom from Finland democratizes education with technology.

CBTec is launching Eliademy a free online classroom that supports educators and students, enabling them to create, share and manage courses. It is available for anybody to teach and learn any subject, for free. Eliademy mission is to democratize education with technology. “We want to change the global educational system”, commented Sotiris Makrygiannis, co-founder and CEO.

Eliademy disrupts online course management market with simple design and outstanding technical engineering making it accessible for any generation from digital natives to baby boomers. “With Eliademy, we bring modern Internet service innovation in design and usability to educators and students all around the world for free” stated Sergey Gerasimenko, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at CBTec, company behind Eliademy.

Eliademy is a dynamic platform that can be used by both universities and corporate organizations as virtual learning environment. Furthermore, it can also be used as a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platform where anyone can teach anyone online. It supports all basic learning system features such as course content, file attachments, tasks and forum discussion, but also goes beyond it. With instant cloud based document preview student will never need to purchase Microsoft Office license to open documents. Simple to use grading system will help teacher to have holistic overview of student’s progress. Shared calendar and reminders will help to optimize day-to-day activities. And smart notifications mechanism will help students to be up to date all-important events, never missing an important class again.

Eliademy’s mission is to democratize education comes from belief that education should be available to all and everywhere. Going back to history, ancient Greek philosopher Plato started the first Academy in the world in an olive tree grove (elia in Greek). It was a remarkable event that laid the foundation for human education. However, Plato’s Academy was available only for people of Athens those days. CBTec believes education should be available to all people of the world (demos in greek), thus we created digital olive grove for anybody to teach or learn - Eliademy.com.

Eliademy is created by CBTec, a company founded by ex-Nokia MeeGo team who previously delivered all open source Nokia phones such as N900 and N9. It and has been developed in Finland, world leader in education, together with best universities, educators, organizations and students.

For more information:

www.eliademy.com

press@eliademy.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/eliademy

Twitter: @eliademy

 

Singapore Education Fair 2013 Phnom Penh 9-11 MAY 2013

Organised by
The Association of Consultants for International Students (Singapore)

The population of Cambodia is estimated in July 2012 by Index Mundi to be 14,952,665 (ref: http://www.indexmundi.com/cambodia/demographics_profile.html). Of this, 32.2% are age 14 and below, and 21.9% are between 15 and 24 (please also refer to https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cb.html). Suffice to say, more than 50% are school going age. Cambodia is an emerging market as its Government has over the last 12 years taken steps to improve its economic development. Although its emphasis is on agriculture, the Government has recognized
the importance of education in paving the way for the Country’s future economic growth and development. It has therefore increasingly placed greater importance and has given greater priority in education. However, due to budgetary constraints and low standard of education in public schools in term of school facilities, quality of teachers and management staff as well as curriculum development, private sector’s contribution in providing higher quality of education has been encouraged and has been thriving over the last 5 or 6 years.

In private schools the quality of education in term of curriculum, quality of teaching staff with many expatriates, and school facilities are better than that of public schools. Hence, tuition fees are higher. That, however, does not deter middle income parents in sending their children to such schools as they recognise that better education for their children would enhance better future for their children, especially more and more Cambodians are now better off and could financially afford higher education fees. Besides the Cambodians, there are also more and more foreign professionals moving into Cambodia as more and more foreign companies moving in as Cambodia is stepping up its economic development. They too need quality private schools for their children.

There are no less than 100 private schools in Cambodia, mainly in Phnom Penh though there is no official figure on the number of such schools. Competition in private education is high. In order to stay competitive, more and more private schools are looking for ways to further improve the quality of their curriculum, their teaching staff and their facilities, as well as looking for tie-up with better schools overseas to enhance their position as leading private education institution.

It is in this backdrop that the Association of Consultants for International Students (Singapore), ACIS(S), in collaboration with the Association of Private Schools and Colleges (APSC), staged the first Singapore Education Fair in Cambodia in early 2011. The Fair was attended by more than 1,000 students and visitors, and led to conclusionof couple of collaborative agreement between an EduTrust certified PEI and couple of PEIs in Phnom Penh. ACIS(S) once again plans to hold the next Singapore Education Fair from 9 to 11 May 2013 in Phnom Penh. It will be a 3-day event with the first two days visiting selected PEIs in Phnom Penh and discussing with their management staff
for possible areas of collaboration. The Fair proper is a 1-day affair for students and visitors to obtain direct information on programmes that are offered by participating PEIs.

Terms and Condition:
1. Open to any Singapore CPE EduTrust certified PEIs
2. Open to ACIS(S) MEMBERS
3. Open to education consultants who are currently not yet a
member of ACIS(S) and to provider of auxiliary services

Programme
A 3-day programme as follows:

Day 1 (09 May)Visit to shortlisted PEIs in Phnom Penh in group of 3; one in the morning and
one in the afternoon
Discussion with management staff of schools to be visited on areas of
possible collaboration
Presentation to appropriate target group of students of schools to be visited

Day 2 (10 May) As Day but to different schools

Day 3 Fair proper from 0900 hrs to 1500 hrs at Sunway Hotel

Institution Rates at US$2,500.00
ACIS(S) Member Rates at US$2,200.00
Non-Member Rates at US$2,600.00

For more information please contact ACIS(S) at:
President: Mr Yio Eng Chiang HP 96433676 email:ecyio@starhub.net.sg
Secretary: Ms Amy Heng HP 90174216 email:aimee.heng@gmail.com
Treasurer: Gregory Lye HP 91070666 email:star@singnet.com.sg
Registration closes - 1 April 2013

Home stay available at 6 Upper Neram Road

8 min SBS Bus No 70 & 86 to Yio Chu Kang Station
10 min SBS Bus No 86 to Ang Mo Kio Hub
10 min SBS Bus No 70 to Serangoon MRT Station
12 min SBS Bus No 86 & 163 to Seng Kang Station
15 min SMRT Bus No 854 to Yishun North Point

A 3-story semi-detached house with 6 big bedrooms & a maid's room. Spacious front, side and back gardens. BBQ pit, spacious upstairs & downstairs living rooms, dining room, dry and wet kitchens. All bedrooms fitted with air conditioner, attached bathroom, individual bed and writing desk, individual wardrobe with lockable drawers, bedside table and study lamp.

For more information, please contact:

Mr Yio Eng Chiang - Telephone: 96433676 or 64821066; Email: ecyio@starhub.net.sg

Another new international school in Singapore

A $300m international school, The Stamford American International School, is officially opened today. It provides American education leading to the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and education for children from 2 to 15 year olds.

Stamford aims to be the “leading American international school in Singapore”. There is no conflict with the established Singapore American School which serves expatriates. It just adds to the extensive range of international schools available for expat children in the island.

Tuition fees are in the region of $12,620 for a half-day nursery class, and secondary school education costs at least $31,000. “English as an Additional Language” costs $5,000 a year.

The school is located in Upper Serangoon near to the Woodleigh MRT station.

Higher school fees for permanent residents

SINGAPORE: School fees for students who are permanent residents (PRs) and international students in government and government-aided schools will go up from January 2013.


The fees will increase by S$50-$80 per month for students who are PRs and by S$115-$250 per month for international students.

School fees for students who are Singaporean citizens will remain unchanged....From CNA

The above is announced by the Ministry of Education. Fees for citizens will remain unchanged to differentiate between citizens and non citizens.

What is education all about?

Real Education? Partially published in The New Paper, Pg 17 on Monday 01.01.2007
Education is the long term solution to most of our problems.
However, we must not confuse academic qualifications with education! Simply put, having a qualification or degree or certificate, is not the same thing as being educated.
An educated person is one who can differentiate right from wrong most of the time.
He or she will have the guts to stand up for justice and equality.
Educated people know that their responsibility is to protect the weak from the oppression of the uneducated strong.
They will help the needy in appropriate ways, by teaching the poor how to fish, as well as giving them the fish when necessary.
Educated citizens admit their mistakes, and more importantly, dare to acknowledge their errors. They know they will bounce back from failure to success with such feedback.
Being educated means that there will be impartiality and thus there will be narrowing of the double standards that we now observe in modern society.
Education is a never-ending process where everyone values lifelong learning. Otherwise how else can an enlightened person be tolerant, open-minded, and patient while at some times being aware that there are no solutions to some problems.
Being socially responsible is a hallmark of education. Educated industrialists will not pollute the environment, even though that translates into lesser net profit or maybe losses. Only uneducated businesspeople would, for instance, sell fake milk powder, which causes deaths in babies and infants. There is a great difference, therefore, between a socially-responsible entrepreneur and a business person!
A Chinese politician once said, "White cat, black cat or flower cat, as long as it can catch the rats, it's a good cat!" So does it matter to the company or establishment who contributes the solutions, so as long as these solutions can help? Must one always have a degree, or a professional qualification, before one's proposals, thoughts and solutions are taken by society to be valid or authoritative?
There is this joke that PhD stands for Permanent head Damage. So what, if the sixty-year old security guard or that sixty-two-year old tea lady can tell you what to do?
Is it very shameful to accept feasible solutions from senior workers who are unqualified and is it necessary that those without qualification are incompetent ?
What has happened to the maxim Substance over form ? Why must the trend be image over substance ? We must change our mindset if we want to survive ! The time is now or never.
Real gold is not afraid of fire. In order to make this radical definition of education widely accepted, real educators must be prepared for a very hard struggle to overturn the years of conditioning and misconception.
And the story of the three blind men and the elephant should remind us that you are right but at the same time I am not wrong as the truth has many appearances.
Will there be queue-jumpers or drunken drivers when Singaporeans are truly educated?
When will there be educated Singaporeans who can have meals with his or her maid at the same table, eating the same food, at the same time?
Will there be educated global citizens who treat every human equally regardless of color, religion, class or sex?
It is very difficult, but with passion everyone can be truly educated!
Food for thought - Is the over-emphasis on paper qualification dangerous?
Challenge - Who will join me to solve most of our problems by advocating real education?
July 2006 © Jonathan CHEE Fook Heng Author of Entrepreneurship Made Simple?
Nominee, Spirit of Enterprise Award 2007 AJ Mgt Svcs’ PR Consultant : Ms Catherine Lim +65 9726 7237

Tourism & Hospitality Management Programme at Western University, Cambodia