Firstly , it really is without any doubt that the continuously superb standing of NUS inside the worldwide university education landscape is a robust testimonial of the weight of the institution.
The fast progress of the university can even be noticed from casual observation without the in-depth evaluation by THE. With regards to research, the NUS medical school has forged partnership together with the Duke Medical School, 1 of the top in the United states. The combined program motivates cooperation in research as well as college student exchange.
In relation to student growth, the University Scholars Program and also the U-town residential program have included substantially diverseness into students' academic life, ushering in american education technique within a liberal arts environment.
Thus, it's not at all shocking to find out the standing of NUS escalate really fast, in addition to its reputation within Singapore and also the planet, a reputation that may be vital to draw the top students and professors, whose inflow results in a virtuous cycle of the institution's improvement.
Nonetheless, you'll find possible problems with regard to the preoccupation with ranking by college along with the general local community as a whole. The existing approach in examining college is far from ideal and regularly open to critiques. Weight given to distinct aspects, no matter how meticulously taken into consideration, is essentially arbitrary.
A single major area of controversy lies with the balance involving research and teaching. A lecturer has to invest time in teaching undergraduates and carrying out research for publications. The former is taken as a major goal of creating a university even though the latter is often considered as a better criterion when evaluating the rating of a college.
If a lot of emphasis is on how many quality papers a university has published inside the first-tier global journals, for instance, this type of evaluation bias might be translated into demand for professors to publish.
A number of universities, like Hong Kong University, have even set up a minimal quota on the quantity of papers to be published every thing. Even in the absence of an explicit quota, as in the instance of NUS, implicit pressure of linking publication to tenure review is adequate to nail the idea of 'publish or perish' in the heads of academicians.
Cost in putting more time in research is normally less time or focus devoted to undergrad training. That is usually noticed in scarcity of fervour from professors or low availability of tutors who seem normally pre-occupied.
At the end of the day, what really does society stand to benefit if increased university rating mainly reflects higher quality research that is certainly basically immaterial to students?
In addition, some vital factors of higher education could possibly be underrepresented in appraisal of educational institutions. Despite the exceptional ranking of NUS, 1 problem continues to be unresolved by the university: academic liberty or autonomy. University as a notion represents liberty of thinking and expression which are engine of intellectual advancement of society.
However, NUS and many other Asian universities embarrassingly do not achieve outstanding credit for that aspect. In actual fact, NUS president, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan stated right after the release of ranking that NUS continued progress is a outcome of consistent assistance from the Singapore government. This is already indicative on the intimate tie between NUS and the government. The truth is, the majority of the school financing originates from the government.
The undermine in academic independence is best noticed within the political science division of NUS which has come under scrutiny for its very clear lack of critical voices. The division has been labeled as "docile", unwilling to maintain itself as an impartial voice within the political discussion.
On the other hand, majority of the established schools in foreign countries are private and they enjoy substantially increased liberty of intellectual inquiry that ultimately benefits the whole society.
In fact, the establishment of Yale-NUS Liberal Arts College some years ago caused substantially discontentment around the move in the Yale community that views the Singapore political environment as not really favorable forliberal arts learning.
It's suffice to say that in addition to improving university ranking, the institution also requires to meet its social expectation by locating a fine line between having government backing and remaining politically impartial.
Maybe before it makes THE pleased , it ought to satisfy Singapore students, social observers and educators 1st, who're the genuine stakeholders of the education within the nation.
The fast progress of the university can even be noticed from casual observation without the in-depth evaluation by THE. With regards to research, the NUS medical school has forged partnership together with the Duke Medical School, 1 of the top in the United states. The combined program motivates cooperation in research as well as college student exchange.
In relation to student growth, the University Scholars Program and also the U-town residential program have included substantially diverseness into students' academic life, ushering in american education technique within a liberal arts environment.
Thus, it's not at all shocking to find out the standing of NUS escalate really fast, in addition to its reputation within Singapore and also the planet, a reputation that may be vital to draw the top students and professors, whose inflow results in a virtuous cycle of the institution's improvement.
Nonetheless, you'll find possible problems with regard to the preoccupation with ranking by college along with the general local community as a whole. The existing approach in examining college is far from ideal and regularly open to critiques. Weight given to distinct aspects, no matter how meticulously taken into consideration, is essentially arbitrary.
A single major area of controversy lies with the balance involving research and teaching. A lecturer has to invest time in teaching undergraduates and carrying out research for publications. The former is taken as a major goal of creating a university even though the latter is often considered as a better criterion when evaluating the rating of a college.
If a lot of emphasis is on how many quality papers a university has published inside the first-tier global journals, for instance, this type of evaluation bias might be translated into demand for professors to publish.
A number of universities, like Hong Kong University, have even set up a minimal quota on the quantity of papers to be published every thing. Even in the absence of an explicit quota, as in the instance of NUS, implicit pressure of linking publication to tenure review is adequate to nail the idea of 'publish or perish' in the heads of academicians.
Cost in putting more time in research is normally less time or focus devoted to undergrad training. That is usually noticed in scarcity of fervour from professors or low availability of tutors who seem normally pre-occupied.
At the end of the day, what really does society stand to benefit if increased university rating mainly reflects higher quality research that is certainly basically immaterial to students?
In addition, some vital factors of higher education could possibly be underrepresented in appraisal of educational institutions. Despite the exceptional ranking of NUS, 1 problem continues to be unresolved by the university: academic liberty or autonomy. University as a notion represents liberty of thinking and expression which are engine of intellectual advancement of society.
However, NUS and many other Asian universities embarrassingly do not achieve outstanding credit for that aspect. In actual fact, NUS president, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan stated right after the release of ranking that NUS continued progress is a outcome of consistent assistance from the Singapore government. This is already indicative on the intimate tie between NUS and the government. The truth is, the majority of the school financing originates from the government.
The undermine in academic independence is best noticed within the political science division of NUS which has come under scrutiny for its very clear lack of critical voices. The division has been labeled as "docile", unwilling to maintain itself as an impartial voice within the political discussion.
On the other hand, majority of the established schools in foreign countries are private and they enjoy substantially increased liberty of intellectual inquiry that ultimately benefits the whole society.
In fact, the establishment of Yale-NUS Liberal Arts College some years ago caused substantially discontentment around the move in the Yale community that views the Singapore political environment as not really favorable forliberal arts learning.
It's suffice to say that in addition to improving university ranking, the institution also requires to meet its social expectation by locating a fine line between having government backing and remaining politically impartial.
Maybe before it makes THE pleased , it ought to satisfy Singapore students, social observers and educators 1st, who're the genuine stakeholders of the education within the nation.
About the Author:
The author is a graduate of the university in Singapore and has been blogging about education landscape in Singapore in the last 5 years. Since his graduation, he has been teaching1-to-1 tuition to students , enabling them to achieve their goal of being a graduate in a prestigious university.
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