Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) whether he can provide an update on the Global Schoolhouse initiative in light of the large number of private school closures in recent years.

Oral reply (to be attributed to Parliamentary Secretary for Trade & Industry Ms Low Yen Ling):

1.In 2009, the Private Education (PE) Act was introduced to raise quality and standards in the PE sector, and prevent egregious practices.  There has been some consolidation in the PE sector after the introduction of the PE Act.

2.As at 2016, there were 295 Private Education Institutions (PEIs) registered with the Committee for Private Education, which was formerly the Council for Private Education.  The number of registered PEIs has remained relatively stable over the past few years, though some level of restructuring is inevitable as the PE sector continues to adapt to better serve the needs and interests of prospective students.

3.EDB launched the Global Schoolhouse initiative in 2002 to enhance the scope and diversity of Singapore’s education landscape.  Through this initiative, EDB has attracted leading institutions to set up in Singapore or collaborate with our local institutions to strengthen Singapore’s talent ecosystem.  These include global business schools, such as INSEAD and ESSEC Business School, which offer Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Executive MBA courses, open enrolment programmes for executives, as well as customised programmes that are tailored to companies’ business needs.

4.As the quality and diversity of Singapore’s tertiary education landscape has increased over the years, EDB has shifted its focus towards working with locally-based education institutions and companies to develop industry-relevant talent.  Through these efforts, we aim to build a robust ecosystem where companies can readily access, develop and deploy talent.