谢耀东说对外国学生人数的批评从上世纪90年代就开始越来越多，这反映了人们对政府引进外国人才来充实本国劳动力和促进经济增长的普遍担心，随着人们转向互联网来发表意见，这种顾虑变得越来越明显。

Even Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong acknowledged the issue in his National Day speech last year, stating that “one unhappiness is the feeling that maybe foreign students have taken the place of locals in the universities.” He emphasized that places for foreign students had not come at the expense of Singapore citizens, as university places for local students had actually increased.

连新加坡总理李显龙(Lee Hsien Loong)都在去年国庆节的讲话中谈到了这一问题，他说：“一件让人不愉快的事情是，人们感觉外国学生可能抢占了本地学生上大学的名额。”他重点指出外国学生的到来并没有以牺牲新加坡本地人为代价，因为实际上本国学生上大学的名额是在不断增加的。

Lawrence Wong, chairman of the Committee on University Education Pathways Beyond 2015, which is investigating options for expanding the sector, said that as the country’s economy grew, more Singaporeans with high-level skills would be needed.

“2015年后升大学渠道委员会”(the Committee on University Education Pathways Beyond 2015)主席黄循财(Lawrence Wong)说随着国家经济增长，将需要更多的具有高水平才能的新加坡人。该委员会正在调查人们对扩充高等教育的意见。

“We also want to meet the strong aspirations among young Singaporeans for a degree education,” Mr. Wong, who is also the minister of state for education, said in a statement. “The committee is looking at ways to expand the university sector in Singapore to cater to a wider spectrum of students, while maintaining quality and standards.”

“我们也想满足年轻的新加坡人获得学位教育的强烈愿望，” 兼任新加坡教育部高级政务部长的黄循财在一份声明中说。他还说：“委员会正在想办法扩大新加坡的大学教育，以便吸收更广范围的学生，同时保持较高的质量和标准。”

Mr. Wong said that while Singapore’s public universities were largely research-intensive, other countries had a more diverse mix of research institutions and applied universities that were more “practice-oriented.”

黄循财说新加坡的公立大学很大程度上是研究型大学，而其他国家的大学更多样化，研究机构和“注重实践”的应用型大学是结合在一起的。

“The committee believes there is scope to develop a new university model in Singapore — one that is teaching-focused and practice-oriented, with close industry ties,” he said.

“委员会相信，在新加坡发展一种新的大学模式是有空间的，我们在考虑发展另一种以教学、实践、与工业界紧密合作来设计课程的新大学模式。”他说。

The committee is also studying how to involve the private sector.

该委员会也在研究如何让私立学校参与进来。

Mr. Chia, the University of Sydney lecturer, said that the government should provide more places for Singaporean students but that “the question is how much more.” He said the government needed to consider whether graduates would be able to find jobs.

悉尼大学讲师谢先生说，政府应该为新加坡本地学生提供更多的入学名额，但是“问题是增加多少。”他说政府需要考虑大学毕业生是否能够找到工作。

“It’s kind of a balance that the government has to do but, having said that, there’s also another imperative of university education that is not just for economics but for education itself,” Mr. Chia said. “What higher education is all about is also the training of the mind. That is also important.”

“这是政府需要保持的一种平衡，但是，我也曾经说过，大学教育不仅仅是为了经济发展，它对于教育本身也是必不可少的。”谢先生说：“高等教育还包括思维训练，那也是非常重要的。”

翻译：马志彦

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