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Committee 1986 ). The participation rate of higher education, including the univer-
sity and polytechnic sectors, has increased significantly since then. For the univer-
sity sector, the ratio increased from a mere 5 per cent in 1980 to 21 per cent in 2001,
25 per cent in 2010 and 30 per cent in 2020 (Singapore Department of Statistics
2002 ; Ministry of Education 2008 , 2012 ). This massification of higher education is
marked not only by a significant rise of student population but also a steady growth
of higher education institutions, including both universities and polytechnics, and
funding for higher education and research and development (R&D). By the year
2015, Singapore’s higher education system was comprised of five publicly funded
autonomous universities, namely, National University of Singapore, Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore Management University, Singapore University
of Technology and Design and Singapore Institute of Technology; privately funded
SIM University (which became publicly-funded and was renamed as Singapore
University of Social Sciences in 2017); as well as five diploma-awarding polytech-
nics, including Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic,
Temasek Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic. It is noteworthy that the five poly-
technics have enrolled over 40 per cent of the age cohort since the beginning of the
twenty-first century (Ministry of Education 2014 ).
Quality and Excellence
Most studies in higher education research are concerned about how to strike a right
balance between expansion and excellence amidst the process of massification. In
Singapore, as what mentioned earlier, it has witnessed a significant expansion of
higher education; the quality of higher education is maintained through imposing
strict admission criteria together with a highly competitive system for the selection
of students. Tan ( 2005 ) highlights the government’s decision in the year 2000 to
reform the university admission system to make it not only relying on the GCE
A-level examination but also the SAT I reasoning test, project work and participa-
tion in co-curricular activities. The change was considered to be in line with the
education reform initiatives of “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation” (Goh 1997 ) to
better equip students with the essential skills for national survival in a knowledge-
based economy. However, the inclusion of SAT I test results as a criterion for uni-
versity admission aroused widespread concerns and controversies over whether the
test is really effective in improving the existing admission system or instead putting
more pressures on students to prepare for the SAT I test on top of the existing
A-level examination. Subsequently, in 2004, the SAT I test was removed as a man-
datory admission requirement for the universities in Singapore partly in response to
the revision of the A-level curriculum to incorporate greater thinking skill compo-
nents as well as the reforms of the senior secondary school and junior college sys-
tem and curriculum (Ministry of Education 2002 ). This reveals that even though the
higher education system has been expanded, the government’s elitist belief largely
remains unchanged for universities are seen to be reserved for quality students with-
out compromising admission standards and quality of students.
M.H. Lee