University Of Adelaide Plans To Make S'pore Campus Its Second Largest

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 18 April 2008

The University of Adelaide plans to make its campus in Singapore its second largest within two years. By 2010, its student numbers will be doubled.

The University made this announcement at a dinner on Friday. The event was held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its educational partnership with Ngee Ann Kongsi.

Professor John Taplin, Pro Vice-Chancellor, University of Adelaide, said: "The University has been involved in Singapore for 10 years. We have this partnership that has been operating successfully over the decade. And we think we're now ready to expand our programmes and our student numbers.

"We are based in Adelaide. We couldn't deliver the programmes in Singapore without having a partner here in Singapore that we could work with. Other Australian universities would also, I think, need a partner.

"Perhaps that's one of the lessons to be learnt from the UNSW (University of New South Wales) Asia experiment. There was no local partner and so perhaps they didn't identify some of the risks that are involved in setting up (a campus here)."

The newly-named University of Adelaide Ngee Ann is introducing new post-graduate programmes and research collaborations with Singapore. It aims to make its campus here a regional centre of excellence.

The University expects student numbers to jump from 456 to 900 by the end of next year. And it will recruit students from Singapore and other countries in the region.

Singapore is now the University's third largest source of overseas students. Most of them study in Singapore and this number is expected to increase substantially in the next decade.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tony Tan, who is the Chairman of Singapore's National Research Foundation, and an alumnus, launched the Singapore Adelaide Alumni Fund at the dinner.

The money will go to undergraduates who need financial assistance. Those eligible are Singapore citizens or permanent residents who are studying full-time at the University of Adelaide.

The Ngee Ann Kongsi has agreed to match every dollar contributed, up to S$250,000.

Australia is the top destination for Singapore students heading overseas for their higher education. Australia attracts 55 percent of Singaporeans studying overseas, compared to 19 percent in the US, and 18 percent in the UK. - CNA/ms