World of learning.

(From Malaysian Business)

SINCE education makes a complete man, the process is life-long and never stops. Singapore subscribes fully to this ideal and aims to market itself as a premier education hub. It also aims to enhance the learning experience of international students and executives in Singapore.

Today, Singapore has three internationally recognised local universities, namely National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University.

They also have collaborations with eight leading international institutions, offering postgraduate programmes and research opportunities in business, engineering, science and technology. These are Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, German Institute of Science and Technology, Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania, Johns Hopkins University, Design Technology Institute, The Logistics Institute - Asia Pacific and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Both the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (Chicago GSB) and top European business school INSEAD have full-fledged campuses in Singapore.

The country prides itself in offering a diverse mix of educational services and opportunities in a safe and comfortable cosmopolitan environment. Singapore offers a broad-based curriculum to equip students with the relevant qualifications and a global perspective that will be the springboard to a brighter future.

Well-Crafted System

Singapore has painstakingly crafted and refined its education system over the years. The country has also trained or attracted highly qualified education specialists from around the world. Its commitment to educational excellence has attracted some of the most prestigious institutions to establish a presence in Singapore.

Pre-school, kindergarten, primary, secondary, pre-university and corporate education are readily available. Besides these full-time courses, a number of short-duration skill-enhancement and self-development courses are offered. Teacher-training programmes are also well established in Singapore, catering to private individuals and institution-sponsored participants.

Singapore's state-funded educational institutions are complemented by those of the private sector. Private schools offer a wide range of courses, from business and IT to hospitality and fine-arts. Certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications are internationally recognised.

Executive Education

Executive programmes are offered by training companies, educational institutions and universities, including renowned foreign institutions such as INSEAD and Chicago GSB. One can either sign up for a public- executive training programme or engage a training provider to customise a programme for specific needs.

Programmes range from management development to skill enhancement, with subjects such as finance and banking, IT, intellectual property, healthcare and business management. Experiential learning programmes are also popular because of their ability to enhance team dynamics among company employees.

Senior executive programmes, such as those offered by the Centre for Creative Leadership, focus on leadership development, while Stanford-NUS offers an executive programme in international management.

Wharton-Singapore Management University offers international finance and management strategy for senior management; the Singapore Institute of Management offers the advanced management programme, `The Job of the Chief Executive'; while INSEAD provides the AVIRA programme, which stands for Awareness, Vision, Imagination, Responsibility and Action.

With the establishment of Asia's first educational institution on wealth management - The Wealth Management Institute - Singapore is one step closer to becoming the region's financial hub. The institute offers a Master of Science in Wealth Management under the auspices of the Singapore Management University. It also taps on the expertise of the Swiss Banking School and the Association of Investment Management and Research.

With Intellectual Property (IP) assuming an increasingly important role in the new economy, the IP Academy is offering courses in IP valuation and patent portfolio management etc.

With such an array of training programmes, many multi-national companies have sent their Asia Pacific staff to Singapore for training.

International Networking

International students in Singapore will benefit from the rich cultural diversity of the country as well as the networking that comes with interaction.

In the Chicago GSB, Master of Business Administration (MBA) students enjoy an international environment, where more than half the students hail from abroad. `The graduate students come from some 16 countries all over the world,' says its associate director of marketing Ria Sugita. `They enjoy their course, forge friendships and form a …