Seven in 10 students from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have secured jobs even before they graduate this week, according to a preliminary survey conducted last month.
About 5,000 graduates took part in the survey and 70 per cent said they would be employed.
About 18 per cent of the graduates were offered jobs with their internship companies, so the majority were accepted by companies they had sought independently.
The proportion is similar to a preliminary survey last year for the class of 2015, where more than half of the graduates had secured jobs.
More than 9,000 students will graduate from NTU this year in 18 convocation ceremonies that started yesterday.
They make up the 25th class of NTU graduates since the university was inaugurated in 1991 with the merger of Nanyang Technological Institute and the National Institute of Education.
In the silver jubilee convocation address yesterday, NTU president Bertil Andersson said as a university that started out with just three disciplines, NTU sought to be interdisciplinary, adding subjects other than engineering and applied science, to cater to the diverse aspirations of Singaporeans.
Said Professor Andersson: “The institution guides students towards professional success with new programmes to prepare our students for work.”
Three of these programmes, the Renaissance Engineering Programme, the University Scholars Programme and the History programme, saw their pioneer groups graduate yesterday.
Presiding over the convocation ceremony was Mr Wee Cho Yaw, UOB chairman emeritus, who is Pro-Chancellor of NTU. Acting Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung also attended the ceremony.
Two luminaries were also conferred honorary degrees by the university for their contributions to science and art.
Master potter and Cultural Medallion recipient Iskandar Jalil, 77, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters for his art and teaching.
Professor Sir David Payne was given the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering for his pioneering work in optical fibre communications, essential in modern telecommunications.
This article was first published on July 26, 2016.
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