Even with the effects of COVID-19 and its restrictions during Singapore’s circuit breaker and recovery phases in 2020, the Private Education Institutions (PEIs) Sector has remained stable. Overall, we see a growing trend of PEIs attaining EduTrust since 2015. Over the years, the number of PEIs attaining EduTrust Star has remained consistent while there has been a growing proportion of PEIs attaining 4 years EduTrust and less PEIs attaining EduTrust Provisional.
Trend 1: More EduTrust (4 years) and Less EduTrust Provisional PEIs
There are two reasons why there have been more schools attaining 4 years EduTrust. Firstly, new regulations from 2016-2017 required PEIs offering degree or pathway programs to attain 4 years EduTrust. As such, PEIs that already offered degree or pathway programs and did not have 4 years EduTrust had to meet these requirements and could have moved from EduTrust Provisional to 4 years EduTrust. This also explains why there are less PEIs awarded with EduTrust Provisional. Secondly, the Quality Assurance (QA) standard of PEIs has improved across the board. With such improvements, PEIs can attain and maintain the higher standards of 4 years EduTrust.
Trend 2: Decline in total number of PEIs with EduTrust certification from 2017-2019
There is a decline in the total number of PEIs attaining EduTrust certifications from 2017 to 2019 and this could be attributed to the fact that as a PEI’s EduTrust certification matures, it can be quite costly to maintain and some schools may drop out of the certification.
Inconsistent data for 2020
The data collected for 2020 is inconsistent with the trend that we noticed. This could be due to the PEIs transitioning and adapting to the new regulatory requirements established in 2019. With the changing regulations, some PEIs may have dropped from EduTrust to EduTrust Provisional which results in a decrease of PEIs with EduTrust and increase of PEIs with EduTrust Provisional. Moreover, even with the changing regulations, we can see that the QA standard of schools were not only able to adapt to the changing landscape but more PEIs were able to attain an EduTrust certification.
Data sources: Committee for Private Education (CPE) past and current website
Read more about what the EduTrust Certification Scheme is
Written and graphic design by Gillian Koh, Industry Research Team at EduValue
