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Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry
of Education
 The
Association of Private Schools and Colleges Singapore expresses its deep appreciation
to Mr S Iswaran, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade & Industry and Ministry
of Education, for officiating the launch of our new brand logo on March 30 March
2010.
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Ms Zhou Jianping, Councellor for Education,Embassy of the People’s Republic of China,
Singapore
 Warm
greetings from Education Office, Embassy of the P R.China in Singapore.
The Association of Private Schools and Colleges(APSC) has been in the forefront
of promoting high. quality education by the private sector and helping international
students including Chinese students since its foundation in 1987.
Based on the Private Education Act, Singapore Private Education Institutes (PEIs)
are facing the reforms. Our office strongly supports the provisions in the new Private
Education Act and appreciates the opportunities of constant consultation with the
Council for Private Education (CPE) in both formal and informal dialogues.
We view the Enhanced Registration Frame (ERF) and the Edutrust Certification Scherne
(Edutrust) as necessary in defining new standards of professional industry conduct,
greater concern for student welfare and their investment protection, strong emphasis
on quality accredited programmes and more transparent accountability for PEIs.
I sincerely hope that APSC, acting as non-government organisation of PEIs, will
continue to contribute to tertiary education in Singapore.
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Prof. Andrew Chua, President of APSC
APSC stands at the dawn of a new era. We have come a long way from
our humble origins in 1987, bringing together private education providers to ensure
the delivery of quality education in response to the government’s initiative of
encouraging continuing education among working adults.
2007 was the year of transformation for the Association. Empowered by a revised
constitution, a new management team and a new name, “The Association of Private
Schools and Colleges”, the association responded to the challenges of a rapidly
changing industry; Better informed consumers not only from among Singaporeans but
increasingly from the region, including ASEAN, China, and India; stepped-up demand
for undergraduate and post-graduate degrees from good universities; expectations
of more effective learning delivery; and vastly increased competition from multinational
education providers.
In 2008 another major development occurred. The association received a generous
LEAD grant from SPRING, to help propel it into the limelight as an effective national
voice and face for private education in Singapore. A new Private Education Act is
now operational, which together with the Edutrust Scheme, has defined new standards
of professional conduct, quality accredited programmes and a more transparent accountability
for PEIs.
The association now represents a sector of the economy, which is growing in significance,
challenged with the target of achieving 150,000 foreign students studying in the
Republic as well as exporting the Singapore brand of education abroad. A full-time
secretariat was established to implement a strong mandate built around 4 major initiatives.
- Greater professionalism and competence in the management of PEIs;
- Better quality in delivery standards by the industry’s faculty staff through L&T
certification and training;
- A growing portfolio of quality accredited programmes benchmarked against reputable
internationally recognized counterparts; and
- Internationalization of the Singapore Brand of private education
In our new and reinvigorated role as the private education industry’s voice, we
stand ready to take on fresh challenges facing the industry. We will galvanise our
PEI members to deliver the Singapore Brand of private education both locally and
to the region. We can do this best by empowering our members to deliver high quality,
value-adding, affordable education. Our range of services will be widened and deepened,
to build dedicated competent faculties and well managed institutions, professionally
trained students, caring staff, good quality, academically accredited programmes,
and efficiently managed learning environments. We will lead trade missions, as well
as organize education fairs and exhibitions abroad to showcase the best of private
education.
In the process of fulfilling our mission, we intend to make a fruitful contribution
toward elevating the quality of our nation’s workforce, leading to a consequent
improvement in the quality of their individual and corporate lives.
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Prof Antony Chapman, Chairman of APSC Academic and Accreditation Committee
 As
Chair of the APSC's Academic and Accreditation Committee, it is my pleasure to write
this foreword for the inaugural launch publication.
Singapore is rightly recognised for its excellence as a centre for higher education.This
is true for a number of reasons—its geographical location, its reputation as a hub
for world business, its unique culture, its many and varied attractions, its safe,
warm and welcoming environment — and, primarily, the commitment of the Singaporean
government and citizens to excellence in education.
This ethos has been reflected through the work of the Association of Private Schools
and Colleges. As it celebrates 25 years of existence, the re-branding exercise will
help to raise awareness of the Association and its members. This, in turn, will
highlight their relevance to the changing educational landscape in Singapore, in
the light of the new Private Education Act and the development of Edutrust by the
Council of Private Education. At this crucial time for Private Education in Singapore,
it is pertinent to draw attention to the important aims and activities being carried
out by the Association and its various sub-committees.
The APSC Academic and Accreditation Committee had developed a set of guidelines
that specify the minimum standards that academic degree programs must meet in order
to be recognised as accredited programmes. This is done through a comprehensive
checking process to ensure that the degrees awarded by or articulated to bona fide
universities and/or validated by accreditation bodies recognised by the home country.
These academic programmes are listed on the association website to promote a more
informed public (both local and international) needing and interested in such information
to make enlightened educational choices for themselves or their children. It is
therefore of the utmost importance that our members commit themselves to offering
the highest academic programmes that are recognised both within the republic and
internationally for their excellence.
In conclusion, I am proud to be associated with the work of the Association and
look forward to this developing further as the private education sector in Singapore
enters a new and exciting phase of development.
Professor Antony J Chapman
Vice Chancellor and Principal, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.
BSc, PhD, Hon DSc, CPsychol, FBPsS, Hon FBPsS, FRSA, AcSS
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Dr. Tan Jing Hee, Honorary Adviser to APSC
 Private
education in Singapore is at the crossroads. Globally, nations are painfully seeking
recovery and grappling with the recreation of a new world economic order. As a nation,
we are intricately implicated as we struggle to face new challenges that call for
fresh and concerted out-of-the-box efforts. Among the numerous emerging needs is
the imperative to prepare for transformational change, in both mindsets and behavioural
responses. To be effective, they must be adequate to lead to continuous adaptation
to on-going dynamic environments.
Education is one key instrument, being a proven, time-honored agent of successful
change. Through the development of people as agents of transformation and progress,
we can promote the effective and efficient growth and diversification of the industry’s
endeavours. We can internationalise the broad range of vocational, higher education
and training courses to meet the capability building needs of countries in the region.
Our mission reflects both the nobility of our endeavours and the socially enhancing
quality of our enterprise – one that we can proudly dedicate our efforts to achieve.
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