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Rethink undergrad studies abroad for public scholars

I refer to Professor Philip Holden’s commentary “University rankings: A need for critical reflection” (Sept 17).

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Richmond Lee

I refer to Professor Philip Holden’s commentary “University rankings: A need for critical reflection” (Sept 17).

I share his sentiments that the public must discern how the ranking system is designed and aspire for our universities to synchronise their growth organically with society rather than follow a less-well-rounded assessment.

But despite my scepticism about the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) or Times Higher Education (THE) rankings as the gold standard for measuring universities, I am heartened that the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) continue to climb the ladder.

I believe the two universities would not have reached the top 50 without furnishing Singapore with trailblazers and talents.

After independence, the Public Service Commission (PSC) sent distinguished students overseas because our fledgling universities were inadequate. Now, together with Singapore’s progress, NUS and NTU have become First World universities.

So, the contemporary question is whether an undergraduate education at these universities is so different from that of the top 21 universities that a scholar sent to the former would be less capable when he or she serves our country. I think not.

We are not training our scholars to be academics. We are sending them for a good education at taxpayers’ expense, to benefit Singapore with their knowledge gleaned from world-class faculty. Do NUS and NTU not qualify now as world class?

Since PSC scholars commit to serving the public, they all the more should spend their time here and understand Singapore from the ground up, especially as undergraduates.

Now is the time to re-examine the PSC’s policy on sending students overseas. The experience of pursuing an education in our own varsities would better tune their sensitivities to local and grassroots issues, while giving them a global dimension.

The recent attention on non-graduates making a difference in the Civil Service sends a clear message that one’s contributions, rather than credentials, matter.

The glass ceiling will continue, though, unless the Government takes bold steps to change public attitudes; for example, by acknowledging NUS and NTU as among the world’s highly regarded tertiary institutions.

We might just want to do without the policy that deserving scholars have the right to be sent overseas. NUS and NTU would move forward in our social context and not in the context of the QS or THE rankings.

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