Fourth uni will rise in Changi, says PM

August 9, 2008
Fourth uni will rise in Changi, says PM
First batch of students to start classes in 2011
By LEE U-WEN

(SINGAPORE) The Republic's new publicly funded university will be
located in Changi, with the first batch of students set to begin
classes just three years from now in 2011.

This was revealed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his annual
National Day Message last night.

The yet-to-be-named university will be the Republic's fourth publicly
funded one, after the National University of Singapore (NUS), the
Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and the Singapore Management
University (SMU).

This would also be the first such university to be situated in the
eastern part of the island. NUS and NTU are both in the west, while
the SMU campus is in the heart of downtown.

Six weeks ago, Senior Minister of State for Education Lui Tuck Yew
had let on that the fourth university would be housed in either
northern, eastern or north-eastern Singapore.

Since the idea of a fourth university was first mooted in August
2007, there have been calls for the varsity to be built in these
areas, as it would significantly reduce the travelling time for
students, some of whom spend an hour or more taking the bus or train
to campus.

In his message yesterday, Mr Lee spoke of the government's commitment
to investing in people, especially through education, in order to
upgrade the economy.

'We are improving our polytechnics and ITEs (Institutes of Technical
Education), where most of our students go. We are also expanding
university places. The government has approved plans for a new
publicly funded university. Its campus will be in Changi, with good
bus and train access from around the island,' he said.

He added that the new university would 'open up more opportunities
for Singaporeans to develop themselves and to advance'.

One of the chief reasons why the government is building this latest
varsity is to increase the number of university places to 30 per cent
of each year's cohort by 2015, up from 25 per cent currently.

That works out to about 2,400 more places, which will be equally
split between polytechnic graduates and junior college students.

In June this year, the high-level International Academic Advisory
Panel endorsed Singapore's proposal for a fourth university and other
moves to increase the number of university places.

The new university will be able to take in up to 2,500 students a
year and offer three main disciplines - business, design and
engineering.