SIM grads find jobs easily, but earn less
Peers from public varsities are paid serveral hundred dollars more: Survey
By SANDRA DAVIE
SENIOR WRITER
GRADUATES from Singapore's biggest and best known private school land jobs easily, with most receiving two or more offers.
But the employment survey carried out by The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) shows that they are typically paid several hundred dollars a month less than their peers from the public funded universities.
Seven hundred graduates were polled by the global education arm of the institute, which runs degree courses in partnership with overseas schools.
SIM's other arm is UniSIM, which run part-time degree courses for working adults. Its graduates were not covered by this survey.
More than nine in 10 found a job within 6 months of completing their course last year, with most receiving at least two offers and a third getting three or more.
Ten per cent ended up being employed by the Government, mostly at statutory boards such as the Central Provident Fund Board and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.
The graduates ' typical monthly starting salary in both the private and public sectors ranged from $2,400 to $2,600 - significantly lower than that earned by those from the public universities.
By contrast, the average monthly salary among Singapore Management University graduates last year was $3,388, while Nanyang Technological University graduates got $3,152 and those at the National University of Singapore earned $3,112.
Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, who heads the insitute's global education arm, said the discrepancy could be due to the fact that it is not a government institution.
"This is peculiar to Singapore, where when it comes to higher education, only the government-run institutions are seen to be of high quality," he said.
He added that although the institute has a good record, several private schools have been exposed over the years for running sub-standard programmes.
"Unfortunately, we are tarred with the same brush."
Mr Lee said another reason could be that employers were unfamiliar with its model of education, which involves partnerships with foreign universities.
"We need to reach out more to explain how we ensure that the overseas university programmes we run here are as rigorous as the ones run in the home country."
He pointed out that one indication of quality was the preformance of its students taking up University of London degree courses.Last year, 117 of them got first-class honours and another 414 graduated with second upper honours.
The Straits Times asked four companies which employ graduates from the institute why they paid them less. Only one agreed to comment, on condition of anonymity.
Its human resources manager said private firms took their cue from the public sector. "It's known that some government ministries and stat boards, if they do hire them, put them on a different scale," he said. "So, companies would use that as an excuse to pay Singapore Insitute of Management grads less."
Several firms, including HSBC Singapore and SMRT, said they place them on the same scale as other graduates. And once in, employees rise through the ranks depending on how well they perform. Some said they have noticed special qualities in those who graduate from the institute.
Mr Phan Yoke Fei, vice-president of human resource at SMRT, said: "They tend to be job-ready. They are also hard workers willing to take on additional responsibilities, have a good work attitude and tend to stay on with the company. I guess it comes from being the underdogs, having to fight harder to have an edge over their peers."
The Public Service Division would say only that it has a "good number of civil servants" who got their degrees through the private schools.
The Education Ministry said its teachers have qualifications from many universities but did not say whether private school graduates are placed on a lower salary scale.
Lack of interest from public sector
* Mr S.L. Tan, 25, first-class honours graduate in business:
"I was really keen on joining the civil service... but I didn't even get an interview.
"Then when I applied to a couple of big companies, they offered me a job but at a much lower salary than what my friends from NUS and NTU were getting.
"I finally took a job with a company that paid me $300 less. But the HR manager said if I proved myself in three months, he would up my salary - and he did."
* Ms A.Goh, second upper honours (Bachelor of Arts) graduate who applied to teach. She now works in a publishing company:
"I applied to teach twice but was not called for an interview. I sought advice from my former school principal and was told to try for an allied educator position, for which you need only a polytechnic diploma."
Private institutions attracting more Singaporean students
PRIVATE school graduates may sometimes be viewed as second second-rate compared to those from the publicly funded universities, but their numbers are swelling.
More students who find themselves unable to get places at the public universities, including the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, are turning to more established private institutions.
And while they used to opt mostly for part-time studies, most of them now prefer to study full-time and get their degrees before entering the job market.
The Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), the Management Development Institute of Singapore, James Cook University, Kaplan and the East Asia nstitute of Management all report more Singaporeans are enrolling, and more opting to study full-time.
SIM's global education arm has by far the largest number of Singaporean students - about 19,000. It runs degree programmes with overseas schools, including the University of London and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
About 14,300 of its Singaporean students are studying full-time for degrees, up from about 12,000 in 2010.
At Kaplan, 60 per cent of its full-time students are Singaporeans and school officials said the number has been growing by about 30 per cent a year. This year, it shot up by 45 per cent.
James Cook University Singapore said local students make up about 25 per cent of its total student population of 2,500 and their numbers have been increasing steadily.
What accounts for the increases?
Private school officials said that despite the setting up of the Singapore Institute of Technology and the Singapore University of Technology and Design, the number of places does not match the rising aspirations of young Singaporean for a university degree.
This year, there will be about 13,000 slots available at the local universities, which means that 27 per cent of Singaporean of university-going age will get places.
But Mr Lee Kwok Cheong, who heads SIM's global education arm, said: "I would say easily 60, 70 per cent of every group aspires for a degree. So there is a shortfall."
The Council for Private Education, which tracks the enrolment in private schools, did not release the latest figures. But in 2010, there were more than 100,000 Singaporeans signed up, with 40,000of them on degree programmes. Schools said that many of the remaining students are likely to be on diploma programmes leading to degrees.
Mr R. Theyvendran, who heads the Management Development Insitute of Singapore, noted that the hefty cost of going overseas is another reason more students are turning to private schools.
Spending between $20,000 and $60,000 over three or four years here is much more affordable.
Students said the bigger private schools have shaped up markedly, improving facilities, courses and teaching. This is thanks in part to the new regulations that require them to gain the EduTrust quality mark before they can enrol foreign students, Besides finding reputable partners, several have set up fully fledged campuses.
They bigger schools such as SIM, the Management Development Insitute of Singapore and James Cook offer a vibrant campus life with active student bodies and clubs.
Singapore students at the private schools said that they see a degree as a must, and want one with market value. They therefore make beeline for the more established schools with reputable university partners.
But Singaporeans enrolled in private schools are also aware that employers tend to rate graduates from public universities more highly. They were not surprised to hear of SIM's employment survey findings, which showed that in terms of salaries, its graduates lagged behind those from public universities.
Still, they said they are getting a good university education and job preparation through the private schools.
Mr Daniel Ho Sheng, from Raffles Junior College, is studying for a communications degree at SIM. He opt for the private school route after failing to get into a course of his choice at the public universities.
The 22-year-old hopes to land a job in the civil service when he graduates next year.
He said: "I realise that private school graduates may be at a disadvantage when we go out into the job market, but after more than two years at SIM, I would say I am a soild university education.
"Also, not getting a place in the local universities shapes your character in some ways. You tend to fight harder, work harder to get ahead, and I believe such experience will help me develop qualities that will serve me well in the workplace."
SANDRA DAVIE
Top of the news, The Straits Time, Friday, June 8 2012, Pg A8
On a related note, check out the
2012 Graduate Employment Results
for the 2011 graduating cohort of NUS, NTU and SMU
http://infinity.usanethosting.com/Tuition/#Graduate_Employment_Results
In Sinkingpore, only the rich, FTs, the cronies and relatives of the MIW and MIW earn high salary.
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