Adelaide University to close Tank Road centre

THE University of Adelaide, which recently announced restructuring plans that caused an uproar among its academic staff in its home campus, is closing down a private school it runs in Singapore with philanthropic organisation Ngee Ann Kongsi.

Adelaide University and Ngee Ann Kongsi, which announced the closure of the Ngee Ann-Adelaide Education Centre (NAAEC) yesterday in a joint press release, said the university will finish teaching the 700 students enrolled in its degree programmes here.

The university, a member of the Group of Eight coalition of Australia's leading research universities, has been running undergraduate and postgraduate degrees here in fields such as business, computing and nursing.

The majority of the lectures are conducted by academics from the university, with the lecturers flying in from Australia to conduct classes in Singapore, a model which other private school operators say cannot be sustained without the support of the home campus.

Over the years, some 2,500 students have graduated with University of Adelaide degrees from the centre in Tank Road.

The partners did not cite a specific reason for the closure, just that since the set up of the centre 18 years ago, the global higher education market has changed and does not favour "brick and mortar delivery", referring to programmes being run in physical premises.

The university also said that in its home campus, it had "redirected its own strategic focus to the small group discovery and close interaction with researchers".

Earlier this month, the university made the headlines in Australia with its plan to reduce its five faculties to three next year, leaving its professors worried about job cuts.

Despite the exit of several private schools here over falling enrolment, Dr Susie Khoo, chief executive of the joint venture, said the student numbers had grown from 500 last year to 700 this year and that the school was financially sound.

But in an e-mail response, she also said that the university's restructuring plans may potentially change its approach to internationalisation.

The closure comes at a time when the private education industry here is undergoing a shake-up, with more than 10 schools deregistering last year.

sandra@sph.com.sg

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