DESPITE its plans to set up a fourth university, the Government will continue to forge ties between polytechnics and foreign specialised schools, Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday.

Such collaborations, in which students often end up with a university degree, give more of them a shot at higher education, he said.

"We need to... respond quickly to new economic and market opportunities and offer choices and paths that meet the increasingly diverse interests of our students," he added.

He made the statement during the launch of the third such collaborative effort yesterday.

This latest venture, between Nanyang Polytechnic and Stirling University in Scotland, will offer a bachelor's degree in retail marketing, with honours.

Stirling University, established in 1967, finished 37th out of 109 schools in The Times' good Universities rankings last year.

The deal will create places for 40 students in diploma courses, such as marketing and retail.

This is part of the Government's plan to create enough varsity places for 30 per cent of graduating students, said Mr Tharman.

Course fees are $4,680 per year and students may choose to spend a term at the Scottish campus.

Topics of study include retail buying, marketing strategy and human resource management, but lessons may be localised to include Southeast Asian retail examples.

Lectures will be conducted mainly by Stirling University's faculty to start with, with Nanyang Polytechnic lecturers as understudies.

Professor Paul Freathy, director of Stirling's Institute of Retail Studies, said he hopes the degree will change the mindsets of Singaporeans, many of whom see retail as a job, not a career.

"It's unfair and a shame. Retailing offers many opportunities and offering a degree is one way to professionalise it," he said.

Graduates could work as management trainees or junior managers in department stores.

The retail sector here employs 145,000 people, or 6 per cent of workers. In the next five years, the industry is expected to create more than 10,000 jobs.