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Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT)

The establishment of the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) was first mooted by the Task Force on Expanding Upgrading Opportunities for Polytechnic Graduates in April 2009 to the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE). The Task Force believed that SIT would help to aggregate and build on the existing collaborations between local polytechnics and overseas universities under the Polytechnic-Foreign Specialised Institutions (Poly-FSI) initiative to provide an optimised upgrading pathway for Singapore polytechnic graduates.

In 2007, the Singapore government announced that it would increase the Cohort Participation Rate (CPR) to 30% of each Primary One Cohort by 2015. This meant that the government would aim to provide subsidised university places for 30% of each Primary One cohort. The Committee on the Expansion of the University Sector (CEUS), comprising members drawn from both the public and private sectors was formed and tasked to look into how this could be achieved.

One key recommendation by CEUS was the expansion of the Poly-FSI initiative to strengthen polytechnic education in order for it to remain relevant as well as to provide more opportunities for polytechnic graduates to obtain industry-relevant and reputable degrees.

MOE formed the Task Force on Expanding Upgrading Opportunities for Polytechnics, comprising polytechnic principals and representatives from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Economic Development Board (EDB), to study how this could be done more effectively. The taskforce visited selected universities and specialised institutions in USA, UK and Australia as part of its feasibility study fro the SIT model. It also held focus group discussions with polytechnic students, graduates and their parents, economic agencies and industry.

The establishment of SIT was announced in May 2009 by Dr Ng Eng Hen, the Minister for Education and Second Minister for Defence. SIT will be responsible for planning, managing and implementing degree programmes offered by renowned overseas universities in partnership with the 5 local polytechnics. This tri-partite collaboration offers a unique model that that will not only increase the number of university places for Singaporeans but also offer them a lot more choices.