Media Release by IE Singapore
- Global spend on education in 2015 is expected to reach US$ 5.4 trillion. The global e-learning sector is expected to reach US$105.23 billion in 2015 and grow to $446.85 billion by 20202. The rise in urban mobility and digitalisation has seen a shift in the way education is consumed and redefined the traditional learning curriculum. Education providers need to understand this global shift and adopt new business models to stay relevant. These were the topics discussed at the inaugural Future Learning CXO Summit today. The event was jointly initiated by International Enterprise (IE) Singapore and leading education technology provider, Kydon Holdings.
Singapore tops global ranking for quality of education
- In August this year, Singapore came out tops in an Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) global education ranking for mathematics and science. This is based on a ranking among 76 countries.
- Singapore curriculum has seen strong traction overseas with local learning solution providers such as ShingLee, Singapore Asia Publisher, Alston and Star Publishing exporting their textbooks and assessment papers to over 30 countries spanning from Southeast Asia, China, Australia and even the United Kingdom.
- Said IE Singapore, Deputy CEO, Chua Taik Him, “Singapore learning solution providers have successfully rolled out their programmes across the globe. Riding on our globally recognised education system, Singapore companies can tap on technological advancements to transform the way content is delivered, increasing accessibility and affordability of quality education and training. We hope our companies will continue to seek partnerships beyond our borders, to co-develop innovative solutions and close the education gap through e-learning.”
Singapore learning solution providers have the relevant expertise to support the growth of e-learning
- In Asia alone, revenue from e-learning is projected to reach $11.5 billion by 2016. Seven of the top 10 countries with the highest e-learning growth rates are in Asia – Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal and Pakistan – with growth in these countries above 30%.
- Over the last 5 years, more than 50% of Singapore e-learning companies have exported their services overseas. With a booming Asia e-learning market in sight, Singapore companies have cultivated partnerships with regional players to develop and implement learning technologies for today’s changing education landscape.
- At the Summit, three out of four Memorandum of Understandings (MOU)/Collaboration Agreement were signed between Singapore and foreign partners:
- Kydon Holdings and UNET Education – A Strategic Collaboration Agreement on a 9-year Smart Education project, under the Vietnam government sanctioned School Card System project. Under this collaboration, Kydon will provide smart education classroom technologies and an online academy that provides programmes for students, teachers and parents at all levels including vocational education.
- Star Publishing and EduSciMat – Star Publishing and EduSciMat will explore the provision of Math & Science textbooks, manipulatives and teacher-training to learning labs in South Africa.
- Star Publishing and Rethink Education – Star Publishing and Rethink Education will explore a partnership to license maths and science content from Singapore for the students in South Africa.
- “UNET fully believes in the delivery and quality of Singapore’s education solutions because Singapore is the most developed country in Southeast Asia. Through our partnership with Kydon, we will apply the most modern education technology in our schools to enhance educational quality and progress. Together with Kydon, we hope to revolutionise traditional learning methods in Vietnam by creating a learning environment that nurture learner’s imagination,” said Mrs. Trần Thị Ngọc Mai, CEO of UNET Education.
E-learning taking its stride in Singapore
- As Asia’s e-learning landscape takes shape, Singapore companies are beginning to adopt technology to create more impactful learning outcomes for the local audience.
- Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, announced a newly integrated learning and teaching platform – i-NTULearn. Designed as a virtual learning environment for both students and faculty, it provides easy access to online resources, courses, notes and lectures; collaboration with their peers; as well as student records and exam systems. This IT-enabled environment aims to promote critical thinking and communication skills.
- At the Summit, Singapore companies Amdon and Mind Stretcher (MS) signed a collaboration agreement to deliver MS’s suite of curriculum via Amdon’s proprietary e-learning platform, Pagewerkz. This platform will be offered, initially, to MS’s students in Singapore and later to their collective network in SEA, China and US. The collaboration is an excellent example of a company strong in curriculum working with a technology company to create new value in areas of student response analysis and intervention. Kydon Holdings also announced the launch of Parenthesis Asia, an online learning platform to provide students, professionals and life-long learning access to quality educational courses, ranging from certificate and diploma courses to smaller scale soft-skill courses for Singapore and the regional markets.
Engaging education partners across the region
- “Kydon is working closely with IE Singapore to connect with regional partners to realise our vision of transforming learning across Asia. IE Singapore has been instrumental to enabling Singapore companies to springboard our innovations overseas, and this joint initiative between IE Singapore and Kydon is a testament to that. Kydon hopes such strategic collaborations will bring not just new business opportunities for us, but enable us to project our thought leadership globally,” said David Yeo, CEO, Kydon Group of Companies.
- The inaugural CXO Summit saw the attendance of close to 70 local and foreign education and solutions providers and facilitated discussions on the trends, challenges, opportunities and outlook. It also provided an effective platform to explore business collaborations and project partnerships between content and technological players in the education space.
