Did you regret your choice of study?

More than half of workers in S'pore regret choice of study, the Straits Times reported.

A global recruitment company has found that more than half of workers in Singapore regret what they chose to study back in school, polytechnic or university.

One in three is also uncertain about their ultimate career choice, according to an online survey by Kelly Services. It was released on Wednesday.

The findings are distilled from the answers given by more than 2,000 people who had sought Kelly Services help to land a job. They form part of it global survey of 115,000 people by its offices in 33 countries.

People of all age groups, educational levels and professions took part and in Singapore, most were in business, engineering, financial services and information technology.

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Singapore creating innovative new education plan

Newsweek's recent article on Singapore's education system explored the government's new plan to incorporate more of a creativity and technology focus in education. Though Singaporeans are admired world-wide for their work ethic and strong educational emphasis, the traditional structure of S'pore's system may prevent growth in new industries like biotechnology or entertainment unless new steps are considered.

Singapore has notoriously high university entrance standards that may need to be relaxed in order to attract a broader variety of students. It's historically been so difficult to get into good schools that students have had to spend an enormous amount of time studying versus innovating, creating new businesses or engaging in the arts. Some of the city/state's traditional values will have to become more relaxed to encourage an entrepreneurial mindset among young people, encouraging more rebellious, creative thinking while still maintaining S'pore's strong ethical values.

Singapore's Education Minister recently spoke about some of the upcoming reforms in the university system and the government's desire to stay competitive when luring foreign students or trying to retain it's own citizens. S'pore's universities are in the top 100 in the world so maintaining this standard will be imperative. It is encouraging to see that the government realises that they need to maintain open thinking and groom innovative ideas to maintain Singapore's financial growth and world status in the years to come.

Image source: E-architect.com.uk

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Gallup offers visionary education program

The Gallup organization has developed an educational program called StrengthsQuest to help identify and foster student's strengths versus shoring up their weaknesses. The program, and the accompanying book, provide resources for educators including seminars, curriculum outlines, guidebooks and Web forums.

Based on recent findings in the Clifton StrengthsFinder and Positive Psychology research, the program is part of a new wave of strengths based education and career counseling that includes Marcus Buckingham's recent books such as Now Discover Your Strengths.

The curriculum is currently in use at many schools including Texas Tech where survey information from 2007 and 2008 showed that most students agreed that the program was helpful in the following ways:

• making educational decisions based on strengths



• increasing confidence



• recognizing self-identity



• improving self-awareness



• using strengths in career search



• understanding personal strengths

Image source BMC Academy
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Online Education- New place for students

They said education should not be restrained within the 4 corners of the classroom. Thus, with the rapid increase of distant learning today, online education became more popular and is one of the many growing industry in the internet today. Online education is very popular especially in developing countries like Asia, wherein students who cannot afford to study abroad, can just go to Internet café's and get a first class education via e-learning.

However, there are a lot of ups and downs like in any other businesses. In late 1990's, they thought online education will be the next big thing, but it failed since a lot of students prefer going to big universities and on a real campus. Today, analysts predict that the global market for online education will rise from $8 billion last 2007, to $26 billion by the year 2010. Currently in the United States, 65 percent of graduate schools offer "distance" learning that can be accessed through the internet by any student anywhere in the world. Recently, U21 Global an online education provider based in Singapore teamed up with Pakistan's government to launch an advertisement campaign endorsing higher education to rural youth.

But how can providers encourage students to enroll and assure them that it would not be boring? Before, its just recorded lectures and notes, but now, providers offer live professors in chat rooms, lecture notes in power-point, and lectures formatted for iPods. Most importantly, gaining friends all over the world is the key to a fun learning experience.

Image Source: Dreamstime.com
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MBA programs offer global study opportunities

In Singapore, MBA's are highly desired by working managers. With the development of a global economy, many students are seeking out programmes that offer international study. The UK Financial Times reports that one example of this newer style of MBA is the EMBA, a joint venture between Columbia Business School in New York and London Business School. Hong Kong University Business School will now be included in the EMBA as part of the EMBA Global Asia programme.

This new program will feature courses taught from all three locations, offering a new global perspective. Additionally, students will actually study in all three locations, as well as central Shanghai, China. However, many business schools have found that working with China to set up joint programmes has been extremely difficult and have pulled out.

Other similar EMBA educational programmes include a new teaming of Esade, Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and McDonough School of Business, a US-Spanish joint project.

Image Source Columbia University.
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35 days course - Eldercare Training Programme is certified by the WDA

Ever had to look after a grandparent; Do you have an elderly person as home? A new course in training older workers on how to care for the elderly has been launched.

The Eldercare Training Programme is certified by the Workforce Development Agency under the Community and Social Services Workforce Skills Qualifications Programme.

The 35-day course will focus on hands-on experience. Participants will also be attached to an old aged home.

Those who are interested can call Hua Mei Training Academy at 6471-7740 or send an email to hmta@tsaofoundation.org.

More at CNA's website.

Image Courtesy of CNA.
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Tuition teachers doing well for themselves

Hiring a tuition teacher in Singapore is becoming standard practice and seen by many parents and students as a necessity to excel in their studies. The Sunday Times reports that, of 100 students polled, 97 receive tutoring, either at a centre or privately. Many students have a variety of tutors for various subjects, especially Math and English, spending an average of two hours on these subjects. Trends show that tutoring isn't just for students who are struggling or for older students. Strong students seek out tuition training to give them a competitve edge and students are receiving tutoring when they are younger.

Many parents are referring to this as "tuition syndrome" and some students are enrolled at more than one centre like Gradtutors, which reports that parents are spending 10-15 per cent more for tutoring on top of educational fees. Gradtutors states that advantages include one-on-one attention versus large classrooms, flexible times and that tutors have the time to inspire students that traditional educators don't.

Some tuition teachers who are extremely in demand are making as much as S$20,000 per month but have 80-90 students and may employ other tutors as part of this income. They also write study guides, educational articles and operate Web sites on their subject.

Image Source Gradtutors.com
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Singapore public servants are doing alright

Being a public servant in Singapore has some advantages. Civil servants do not compete against foreign talent, some are guaranteed at least five years of job security, and their salaries are less likely to be performance based, per a parliamentary speech by Low Thia Khiang on April 9, 2007. Singapore has some of the highest paid civl servants in the world according to a 2005 report by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations. There is debate as to whether these higher salaries ensure a better quality of life for Singapore, but it still makes a career as a public servant a great career choice for many.

Starting salaries for civil servants in areas like management, education, accounting, engineering and more saw increases of 7-14% annually (which does not include bonuses) in 2007 based on whether they graduated with Good Honours or an iPass degree. Thus, the starting salary for someone in the Education sector with Good Honours jumped from S$2560 to S$2820 that year.

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Business Book Reviews - Starting 9th June

Jorbb will be posting business book / audio book reviews from tomorrow onwards.

We will try to cover newly released Business books covering topics like Economics, Management, Productivity, Entrepreneurship and Human Resources.

Stay tuned as we will be providing coupon discounts to online book merchants soon...

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NUS graduates get higher starting pay

Photo courtesy of NUS.

A survey of 2007 graduates of National University of Singapore indicates that starting pay rates are on the rise. Additionally, the job market appears strong for these graduates as they all had job offers within six months of graduating, while 80% had an offer before graduating!

NUS's business graduates saw a 13% increase and top earners started at S$10,800 monthly. Most are employed in the areas of finance and banking, energy (including oil), and consumer goods industries.

Graduates from Nanyang Technological University are also doing well. 90% of their graduates secured positions within one month of graduation and some earned more than S$15,000 monthly.

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