Singapore Education Consulting Group

25/12/2025

Wishing all our friends in Education throughout the world, happy holidays, greetings of the season and a great year in 2026!

10/09/2025

We are delighted to announce the addition of Mrs Wai Yin Pryke to our pool of Associates. Wai Yin comes with the highest pedigree in education and has held numerous positions in the public service.

She is a dynamic leader with over 36 years of experience in education, library, and heritage sectors, passionate about continuous learning and leadership development at all levels. As an educator of 30 years, Wai Yin held senior positions in school leadership and the Ministry of Education.

She was a founding member of MOE’s inaugural National Education efforts in 1997. As school leader, she emphasised values and citizenship education, helping her school to garner an outstanding award for character development. Her school was selected to prototype programmes for engaged learning under the 21st century skills framework. With her passion for people development, she was a mentor to new principals.

Wai Yin was the appointed the founding Principal of English Language Institute of Singapore in 2011 under the Ministry of Education, where she spearheaded new initiatives to build capability in English language teaching and learning. Her team was also instrumental in defining and equipping teachers in subject literacy to foster better understanding in students through enhancing teacher discourse.

In 2016, Wai Yin became the Director of the National Library where she expanded learning and discovery opportunities for the public through partnerships with public and private organisations. Under her leadership, significant donations were made by the clan associations documenting their deep histories and National Library also became a vibrant place for learning, including an inaugural programme of talks by librarians to uncover the rich repositories of the library and archives which still continue today.

When Wai Yin joined the National Heritage Board in 2020 as Director of Education and Outreach, she continued to push for opportunities for students and the public to learn more about the rich heritage of Singapore.

In 2022, she became the Founding Director of the first Children’s Museum of Singapore where she championed inclusiveness accessibility and engagement in cultural learning, before her retirement from public service in late 2024.

Wai Yin’s efforts in public service were recognised by the Singapore government being a recipient of various National Day Honours, including The Public Administration Medal (Silver).

Wai Yin continues to share about the Singapore education system and teacher professional development under National Institute of Education (International) and mounts training in capacity-building programmes for organisations. She is also a member of the Library Association of Singapore as well as an Associate member of the Society of Mediation Professionals.

We are indeed proud to have Wai Yin with us, with vast array of experience in school leadership, English Language teaching and the Library and Museum areas too.

07/09/2025

AT SECG, we have an abiding interest in helping Asia and Southeast Asia in particular to raise standards of education at all levels, from pre-school through school and post-secondary to higher education including technical education and training.

With this in mind, we are delighted to announce the appointment of our first Associate Consultant based in Vietnam, Mr Tuan-Anh Hoang. Tuan is not new to the field of education in Asia, having experience in Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Studies at the Department of Education, National Taiwan Normal University in Taiwan. He graduated a Bachelor program in Mathematics Education at Hue University of Education, Vietnam in 2005. He earned a Master of Education in Educational Administration at the Faculty of Education, Mahasarakham University, Thailand in 2014.

His interest in research includes Higher Education (HE) for Sustainable Development, Educational Human Resource Management, Quality Assurance, Educational Policy, Leadership and Administration, Educational Technology, ASEAN education reform, Teacher Education, and Bilingual Education. He has published sixteen academic articles and conference papers, one book chapter, translated six educational books in partnership with The HEAD Foundation and New Pedagogies for Deep Learning, and given six guest speeches and presentations, and individual opinions in various multimedia and communication.

He is a referee at LUX VERITATIS, a Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Santo Tomas - Legazpi, the Philippines. He is an international visiting professor at Sorsogon State University in the Philippines and an international consultant at the Department of Teacher Education, Ministry of Education and Science in Somaliland.

He is currently serving as HR manager at Hue University of Education and a visiting HR lecturer at Phu Xuan University in Vietnam.

We welcome Tuan to our growing group of committed and competent Associates at SECG. If you need any assistance in educational systems, pathways, edtech or any other area, please do drop us a line! We would be happy to hear from you!

28/06/2025

SECG is quoted in this Big Read article in the CNA website, on the latest QS rankings released last week. QS places NUS as #8 in the world and NTU as #15 (just below Peking University at #14) in the world. NUS is the top university in Asia and Australasia.

The article discusses the impact such rankings have on student decision-making.

Thank you Nikki Yeo.

Singapore’s top universities are drawing students from around the world with their academic rigour, affordability and safety. But many students and experts say that global prestige, elite alumni networks and research legacies still give Ivy League and Oxbridge institutions an enduring edge.

28/06/2025

The NTU AI case continues to attract media attention, not just in Singapore but overseas too.

While all reputable universities have well-thought our policies for AI in Teaching and Learning, a follow through with all faculty is needed so that there is a common and uniform understanding among all faculty on what it means in their own classes. While there will always be some variation and leeway allowed across different discilplines (eg hard sciences vs social sciences), there has to be a strong baseline understanding of what's allowed and what's not allowed. Otherwise students have to adapt their approaches to each faculty member individually. This will only confuse them and cause disagreements.

When such matters get out in the media (not to mention social media!), the affected university's reputation can take a hit.

Saga involving three students accused of academic misconduct reveals gaps in universities’ dispute resolution processes, observers say.

30/03/2025

Wishing all our Muslim friends Ramadan Mubarak and a successful end to the fasting period.

23/12/2024

As we wind down towards the end of the year, we at SECG want to thank all of you for your support and wish you a wonderful year of fulfilment in 2025.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

01/10/2024

IMPACT OF UNIVERSITY ENROLMENT CAPS

International students have always been an important component of the enrolments at Anglo-Saxon universities. They not only add diversity but also bring in necessary fee income to the universities in the face of cuts in grants by their governments. It also helps to subsidise local students. However, in the face of political pressures in these countries (housing costs, immigration and jobs), new restrictions have recently been enacted on university enrolments by Australia, Canada, and the UK and these are expected to have significant impacts on their higher education sectors. Let's take a look at these:

Australia: Starting in 2025, Australia will impose caps on the number of international students that universities, TAFEs, and vocational colleges can enrol. This move is aimed at managing the rapid growth in international student numbers post-pandemic. The caps vary across institutions, with some universities facing significant reductions in their international student intake. This could lead to financial challenges for institutions heavily reliant on international tuition fees and may affect the diversity and cultural richness of campuses.

Canada: The Canadian government has announced a cap on study permits to reduce the number of new international students in vocational and undergraduate programs by 35% in 2024. This measure is intended to address the surge in international student numbers, which grew by around 30% per year for two consecutive years post-pandemic. The cap will particularly impact urban areas like the Greater Toronto Area, where many international students prefer to study.

UK: The UK has implemented restrictions on international students bringing their partners and children, which has already led to a 16% decline in student visa applications as of July 2024. This policy aims to control immigration numbers and manage the strain on public services, but it may also deter potential students who wish to study in the UK with their families.

Overall, these caps are likely to reshape the landscape of international education in these countries, potentially reducing the financial benefits and cultural exchange that international students bring. However, they also reflect a growing concern about managing immigration and ensuring sustainable growth in the higher education sector. However, their Tier 2 and Tier 3 universities will be in some financial difficulties.

It is possible that more students will apply for less popular destinations like Germany (where Higher Ed is almost free), France, Singapore, Malaysia, Russia or even China. It will give a boost to private universities and overseas branch universities.

This week, Education Minister Jason Clare made an announcement that could reshape the landscape of international education in Australia.

09/08/2024

Wishing all our friends and partners a very happy National Day! Have a fun day everyone!

24/07/2024

Join us tomorrow for a very timely and interesting webinar.

08/07/2024

Between March and June 2024, it has been my pleasure to lead a programme called Leadership Development Programme for Higher Education Institutions (or LDP-HEI), for the 6th time. Organised by SEARCA (located at Los Banos, Philippines and The Head Foundation in Singapore, it builds leadership capacity in SE Asian HEIs to lead their institutions through the changing and challenging environment ahead.

Thirty-three participants from 23 institutions of higher learning in the region participated in this programme. After 5 weeks of online classes (flipped of course), we all met together for 3 days of face-to-face sessions in Bangkok. This included visits to Chulalongkorn and Kasetsart Universities as well as a leading food company with an farm-to-market supply chain.

After completing their programme, each participant is expected to lead change and initiate innovations in product, process or services. We will meet together again online at the end of July for them to present their new initiatives.

My co-presenters were A/P Calvin Chan and A/P Rebekah Lim.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the meeting in Bangkok.

SEARCA
The HEAD Foundation