Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Implications Of Obsession Of University Ranking In Singapore

The Implications Of Obsession Of University Ranking In Singapore

By Crispin Sng


To begin with , it is devoid of doubt that the consistently extremely high ranking of NUS inside the world-wide university education arena is really a powerful testament of the weight of the institution.

The speedy advancement of the university can even be noticed from casual observation without the need of the in-depth analysis by THE. With regards to research, the NUS medical school has forged alliance with the Duke Medical School, 1 of the best in the United states of america. The joint program motivates partnership in research as well as 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.

As a result, it may not be unexpected to find out the standing of NUS climb swiftly, as well as its standing within Singapore along with the entire world, a reputation that is definitely vital to draw the best university students along with instructors, whose influx enhances a virtuous cycle of the university's improvement.

Nevertheless, you will discover prospective disadvantages around the preoccupation with ranking by university along with the general community as a whole. The current methodology in reviewing university is far from ideal and regularly susceptible to critique. Weight assigned to distinct areas, irrespective of how carefully considered, is essentially arbitrary.

A single major area of dispute lies with the balance between research and teaching. A lecturer has to invest time in teaching undergrads and doing research for the purpose of publications. The former is taken as being the primary aim of developing a university even though the latter is usually taken as a stronger criterion while looking for the rating of a school.

If a lot focus is on how many high quality papers a college has published in the first-tier international journals, by way of example, this kind of evaluation bias will likely be translated into tension 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 will society stand to reap if higher university standing primarily reflects greater quality research that's primarily irrelevant to students?

Moreover, some important components of higher education might be underrepresented in review of colleges and universities. Regardless of the excellent ranking of NUS, 1 problem remains unresolved by the university: academic liberty or autonomy. University as a concept connotes freedom of thinking and expression that are vehicle of intellectual advancement of society.

However, NUS and many other Asian educational institutions embarrassingly don't get high credit for that aspect. In actual fact, NUS president, Professor Tan Chorh Chuan stated after the release of ranking that NUS continued progress is a result of consistent assistance from the Singapore government. This can be already an indication of the intimate tie between NUS and the government. In truth, most of the university funding is derived from the government.

The compromise in academic autonomy is best noticed within the political science division of NUS that has come under critique for its very clear deficit of critical voices. The division has been described as "docile", not willing to assert itself as an third party voice inside the political discourse.

In contrast, largest percentage of the honorable educational facilities overseas are privately owned and they have substantially higher freedom of intellectual inquiry that consequently benefits the whole community.

The truth is, the founding of Yale-NUS Liberal Arts College a handful of years ago caused much dissatisfaction around the move from the Yale community that considers the Singapore political environment as not 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.




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