NUS President on increased uni intake: Quality must not slip as intake goes up THE quality of education offered must never be compromised should universities increase their student intake.

The president of National University of Singapore (NUS), Professor Shih Choon Fong, emphasised this point amid Government calls to boost the education sector.

Prof Shih said in a Channel News Asia report: "You expand numbers, with finite resources, finite classrooms, same number of faculty members. So we've got to see the trade-off.

"I'm not saying we won?t do it or we can't do it. We have to look at the trade-offs," he said, and stressed that trade-offs should not be at the expense of quality.

The professor was the recipient of the Chief Executive Leadership Award given by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and honoured for his role in shaping NUS and promoting philanthropy towards education.

He is the first in the Asia-Pacific to receive the award.

The council, which provides services such as fund-raising for the education sector, is setting up office here. It said philanthropy in education is growing and that a fourth or fifth university in Singapore will not dilute fund-raising
resources.

Council president John Lippincott said: "We have found that around the world, a rising tide floats all boats. That is, as one university succeeds in its fund-raising efforts, other universities are then more successful as well."