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Source:
www.gov.sg |
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NUS (CORPORATISATION) BILL |
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SECOND READING SPEECH BY MINISTER FOR EDUCATION MR THARMAN
SHANMUGARATNAM DURING PARLIAMENT SITTING ON 21 NOV 2005 |
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Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, that the
Bill be now read a second time. |
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As Singapore progresses towards a
knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy, our three universities ¨C
National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU), will have a key role to
play in producing graduate manpower, enriching our human capital by
providing quality education, and excelling in research to create
knowledge and wealth for Singapore. |
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Our universities are already well-recognised
today. Yet, the global university landscape is changing rapidly. Our
universities have to compete in this new landscape to get the best
faculty and students, including the best Singapore students. They also
have to develop own world-class capabilities in specific fields. |
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To achieve this, a new model of governance
for our universities is necessary, to give them autonomy to chart new
directions, to differentiate themselves, and to focus on developing
excellence. |
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Global trends indicate that there are
imperatives for many countries such as Japan, Denmark and Finland to
reform their universities by devolving more autonomy to them. |
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For example, Japan enacted the National
University Corporations Law in 2003 to transform its national
universities into independent administrative corporations with more
autonomy. Denmark enacted a new University Act in 2003 to transform the
Danish universities into self-governing institutions, each with their
own Boards of Directors with a majority of external members (including
the Chairman) to guide the university Rectors and management in the
strategic development of the universities. |
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In April 2004, we initiated the University
Autonomy, Governance and Funding (UAGF) review to find an appropriate
model of autonomy for our three universities. |
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The UAGF Steering Committee, chaired by then
2nd Permanent Secretary (Education), LG(NS) Lim Chuan Poh, released its
preliminary report and recommendations on 6 Jan 2005. |
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Its key recommendation was to corporatise
NUS and NTU into not-for-profit public companies limited by guarantee,
or in short, Autonomous Universities. SMU, which is already established
as a public company limited by guarantee at the onset, has always been
an Autonomous University. |
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The MOE International Academic Advisory
Panel (IAAP) met in Jan 2005 and discussed extensively the UAGF
recommendations. It strongly endorsed the move to transform NUS and NTU
into Autonomous Universities, just like SMU, to enable them to achieve
teaching and research excellence, raise their international standing and
enhance their students¡¯ learning experience. |
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The IAAP also made several useful
observations. Chief among these observations was that university
education at the three universities must remain accessible and
affordable. There must also be greater accountability with increased
autonomy. |
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The IAAP endorsed the enhanced
accountability framework for the Autonomous Universities, to assure the
public that the universities¡¯ missions remain aligned with our national
strategic objectives and that the quality of university education
continues to be enhanced. |
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Mr Speaker, Sir, the Members of this House
will recall that at this year¡¯s Budget debate, the Committee of Supply
had deliberated on the UAGF recommendations. |
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The Government announced its acceptance of
the UAGF recommendations in April 2005. The move to transform NUS and
NTU into Autonomous Universities marks the beginning of the next major
phase of our universities¡¯ development. |
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As I shared at this year¡¯s Committee of
Supply debate on my Ministry¡¯s budget, we have good people in our
universities, principally the university Council members, particularly
the chairmen, and key management, faculty and staff. I am confident that
these good people that we have in the universities will also develop a
culture of collegiality that is characteristic of all top universities. |
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With the proposed changes, our three
Autonomous Universities will be able to exercise the flexibility to
chart directions, and create a unique university experience for their
students. They will be able to compete effectively in the global
university landscape. |
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Our experience with SMU as an Autonomous
University has given us confidence that the proposed model of governance
for NUS and NTU will work. But the two larger and more complex
universities ¨C NUS and NTU, will need time to change, and we should give
them time to change. |
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Mr Speaker, Sir, I am pleased to inform the
House that the change process has already commenced at the universities.
Both the NUS and NTU Councils, together with their respective university
management and faculty, have embarked on their strategic reviews to set
their future course. |
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The granting of autonomy to NUS and NTU will
fundamentally be a catalyst for change in culture in our universities.
It will bring greater collective ownership and proactive participation
from the university stakeholders - the university Council (they propose
to call them Board of Trustees instead of Council members after
corporatisation), the university management, faculty, staff, students,
and alumni. |
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Mr Speaker, Sir, the three Autonomous
Universities will remain as key academic institutions in Singapore. |
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The Government remains committed to provide
substantial funding. We want to ensure that they continue to contribute
to the well-being of Singapore and its people, not just economically by
producing graduate manpower to support the economy, but also in
propelling Singapore up the curve of knowledge creation through a
concerted investment in R&D capabilities. |
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Hence, the new Acts for our Autonomous
Universities will allow my Ministry to ensure that the university sector
as a whole meets these national objectives. MOE also has the fundamental
responsibility and will work closely with the universities to ensure
that university education remains affordable, accessible and is of the
highest quality. |
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It is critical that we strike a correct
balance between autonomy and accountability, and continue to give our
universities the freedom to chart their own strategies and directions,
and to differentiate themselves. |
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In this regard, the NUS and NTU (Corporatisation)
Bills are in line with the existing SMU Act. The new legislation aims to
safeguard the Government¡¯s strategic interest in the university sector
and yet, give the universities the autonomy to be nimble and responsive
to the dynamic landscape. |
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The approach we have taken is to retain
those clauses from the existing NUS and NTU Acts which are still
relevant, albeit with some modifications in the new Acts, and to include
new clauses arising from the UAGF recommendations. |
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The operational matters are incorporated in
the university company¡¯s Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A),
as in the case of SMU. As an additional safeguard, any amendment to the
M&As would require the consent of the Minister for Education, as
provided for in the SMU M&A today. |
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The NUS Bill also provides the legislative
provisions to transfer NUS¡¯ property, rights and liabilities to the
successor university company, and will repeal the existing NUS Act which
establishes NUS as a statutory board. |
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Let me now highlight the key clauses of the
NUS (Corporatisation) Bill. |
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More..... |
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Source:
www.gov.sg Media Release 21 Nov 2005 |
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FrontPage Edition: Mon 21 Nov 2005
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