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The Government has accepted the recommendations of
the University Autonomy, Governance and Funding (UAGF) Steering Committee to
devolve greater autonomy to our three publicly-funded universities – the
National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
and Singapore Management University (SMU). |
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This move to transform NUS and NTU into
corporatised, Autonomous Universities like SMU marks the beginning of the next
exciting phase of our universities’ development, where they will be able to
exercise greater flexibility to make far-reaching changes to create a unique
educational experience for their students, as well as compete in the global
university landscape. |
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Please see the executive summary and full report
of the UAGF Steering Committee for further details. |
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Implementation Plan |
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The Ministry of Education (MOE) has set up an
Implementation Steering Committee (ISC) chaired by LG(NS) Lim Chuan Poh,
Permanent Secretary (Education) to oversee and ensure the smooth
implementation of the main UAGF deliverables from now till mid 2006. |
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The main deliverables include legislative changes,
new funding framework, tuition fee setting mechanism, and enhanced
accountability framework. Please see
Annex for the composition and terms of reference of the ISC. |
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NUS and NTU will be corporatised as not-for-profit
companies limited by guarantee, similar to the current set-up of SMU. MOE will
work closely with the universities to effect the necessary legislative changes
to the existing NUS Act and NTU Act. |
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Each university will be registered as a company
limited by guarantee under the Companies Act, with its own Memorandum and
Articles of Association. |
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To ensure that the universities’ missions remain
firmly aligned with our national strategic objectives and that the
universities remain accountable for the use of public funds, an enhanced
accountability framework will be introduced, comprising the existing Quality
Assurance Framework for Universities (QAFU), and the proposed Policy and
Performance Agreements. |
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The ISC will oversee the drafting of the Policy
and Performance Agreements which are expected to be signed between MOE and
each university by mid 2006. |
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The corporatisation of NUS and NTU and the signing
of the Agreements with the 3 universities will be an important step in the
transformation of NUS and NTU into Autonomous Universities. The devolution of
autonomy to the two universities will be an ongoing process over the next few
years. |
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In anticipation of the opportunities afforded by
greater autonomy, NUS and NTU have embarked on an internal review of their
strategic directions, as well as how their internal governance and management
structures could be strengthened to take over the oversight roles previously
performed by MOE. |
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The university Councils in particular will have to
play a more significant role in charting the direction, optimising resources
and ensuring the long term financial sustainability of their institutions to
support their pursuit of excellence in education and research. |
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The university leadership will also consider how
to actively engage their faculty and staff. These changes will have to be
carefully thought through in consultation with the university stakeholders. |
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The ISC will also work out the operational details
of the new funding and tuition fee setting frameworks, as well as the
mechanisms to provide adequate student financing to ensure that no student is
denied a university education for financial reasons. |
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Background |
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In April 2004, Minister for Education, Mr Tharman
Shanmugaratnam announced the establishment of the UAGF Steering Committee
chaired by LG(NS) Lim Chuan Poh, Permanent Secretary (Education) to recommend
an appropriate model of autonomy for Singapore’s publicly-funded universities
that will enable them to respond to the opportunities and challenges of a more
competitive university landscape, and to achieve global excellence. |
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The UAGF Steering Committee released its
preliminary findings to the public at a press conference on 6 Jan 2005. MOE’s
International Academic Advisory Panel deliberated on the recommendations
during its 5th Meeting (11-14 Jan 2005) in Singapore, and endorsed the move to
transform NUS, NTU and SMU into autonomous universities. During this year’s
Committee of Supply debate on MOE’s budget, Members of Parliament also had the
opportunity to discuss the recommendations. |
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More..... (annex) |
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Source:
www.moe.gov.sg Press Release 12 Apr 2005 |
NUS, NTU & SMU to become autonomous universities
