Working in the Ministry of Education make me realise one thing. Education is REALLY important. Almost everyone around me has a degree. In my department alone there is at least 10 people with Honours =.="' Day in day out, I read and reply emails, at least 80% of the emails i deal with each day is in regards to university education and beyond. Now even having honours in Singapore seems like a norm. Although being very inspired to have a degree, there are some question that are unanswered. Having a degree doesn't means you are save. Some people work so hard investing in a degree to think they would only earn $1700+ a month. The question is which university to choose from. In my work place, there is such a thing called standard answer for recognition of university degrees. Let me share with you:
We would like to share with you that the Ministry of Education (MOE) does not have a list of accredited local and overseas universities. There is also no central authority in Singapore that assesses or grants recognition for degrees obtained from local and overseas universities. The reason is that the employer should be the one deciding whether a degree-holder has the qualities desired for the job and the qualification most relevant to his needs. The employer is in the best position to decide how much value he will assign to a person's qualification. However, in selecting an overseas institution for studies, it is advisable that students establish whether the institution is a bona fide educational establishment. Students may also be interested to find out about the country's tertiary education ranking panel, entry requirements, duration and the length of course and modules covered before deciding to enrol into the institution. Such enquiries may be made at the Embassy/High Commission of the country where the university is located or at the relevant education centres. There are also some guidebooks available such as the Commonwealth Universities Yearbook if you are interested to check on the accreditation status of overseas degree. The list is available at the Public Service Division website at: https://app.vog.gov.sg/StaticContent/StaticPage.aspx?url=WhatyouShouldKnow.htm (select "Entry Qualifications") Professional degrees such as those in engineering, medicine, law, and accountancy should be those recognised by the respective professional bodies. For example, a person with an engineering degree from an overseas university who intends to seek registration as a professional engineer in Singapore will have to check whether the institution that awards the qualification is recognised by the Professional Engineers Board.
In the case of overseas universities offering external degree programmes here through local agents, the institutions concerned and their agents are responsible for all aspects of the programmes. It is advisable for students interested in such programmes to find out as much as possible about the programmes from the institutions or agents, before enrolling in them. You may wish to refer to MOE's (Private Schools Section) website at http://www.moe.gov.sg/privatesch/index.htm or STB's website at: http://app.singaporeedu.gov.sg/asp/edu/edu0209b.asp for information on external degree programmes offered in Singapore. If you need information on the acceptance of overseas universities for employment in the Civil Service, you may visit the following link to the Public Service Division at: http://www.vog.gov.sg/
What it basically means that is that your investment in education could be a total waste of money. The next question let me on a search for answers. So what are the safest education investments? Looking at university rankings is one way. HARVARD university is way on top in more than 3 ranking. In most of the top 3 university ranking, common are cambridge, oxford, and macchussetts. But truthfully, how many of us can actually go there. Even if got the finance to, they wouldn't want us. Their enterance standard are so high. If you think like Bill Gates good for you, that smart man dropped out of Harvard to start microsoft. And you may want to ask what is the admission criteria. The answer is by invitation. Out of 8000+ student that were invited to register, less than 10% make it. Thats how Harvard is. Well, but Harvard is an education insurance. Not many will be able to go there. Many of us think that NUS and NTU are one of the world's best institution right here at our door step in Singapore. But looking at several rankings, I noted that its the "world's best" on the top 100 university. If you are looking for an international job, they might not even recognise your degree. Even the china ppl are doing better than us. Peking University in Beijing was ranked in top 10. When you just thought that doing your degree in Australia you would be better off, think again. None of the Australian university was mentioned in the top 30. It seemed that there is no one answer that fits fastest except harvard. Fruitless search, cuz i know i would not be able to reach there in light years.
Nevertheless, I learnt a lot from the little information search i did. In any case, I was thinking I'm still going to get my degree. But in a different perspective. I want to make my education an investment worth while. Doing a degree now might course anything under 20,000 to well over 50,000. Why stinge on education investment when you know that job waiting for you is gonna get snatch by some competitors who got some showy degree. I did rather spend 30,000 doing a internationally recognised degree cost that can get you a job anywhere, then a 20,000 one that gets you only minimum security. The course of study may be the same. But the university branding is different. It makes a difference to say whether you are from a top notch harvard university degree compared to one that has a masters in some ulu pandan university. You might just save years from studying and make twice the amount of money.
For now I really must start working hard to get into a good university.
