The University Town concept is coming to the Kent Ridge campus.  

In an unprecedented move, residents at the six Kent Ridge halls of residence and Prince George’s Park can expect multi-disciplinary learning and teaching facilities to be incorporated within their living spaces by August this year.  

Discussions and proposals between the hostels and the Office of the Provost are already underway.  

NUS Provost Professor Tan Eng Chye revealed this new proposal to The Observer during a Feb. 18 interview.  

Tan said, “The idea is to inject a learning component in the existing halls. The hostel would provide a different concept of learning, a deeper appreciation of the culture, and a more heightened intellectual experience.

“For example, some hostels have overseas expeditions to countries like Cambodia. We could bring in some social work lecturers to incorporate social work and service aspects to their activities.”

Tan added that the Kent Ridge hostels will be used as a testing ground for the University Town concept, slated to be operational by 2010.  

University Town was recently unveiled as part of Singapore’s higher education landscape that would accommodate up to 6,000 local and foreign students.

Located at the former Warren golf course, University Town will consist of residential colleges that will incorporate teaching and learning in its hostels.  

Student responses would have an impact on future conceptualisation of plans.

Feedback by the students to the new programmes launched in the Kent Ridge hostels would be monitored and modifications would be carried out accordingly.

“On a bigger scale, it’s the University Town. We can’t just test it on students and forget about it. We have to see how students respond to it,” Tan said.  

During the University Town opening ceremony in January, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said, “NUS already has several halls of residence which allow students to enjoy the benefits of living on campus. The University Town will take this one step further with the establishment of residential colleges.”  

According to Tan, this new proposal is not linked to the recent hostel fee hike. He said students can be assured that the increase in hostel fees is implemented solely to offset operational and maintenance costs.  

“The money for this (new proposal) is coming from funds for the University Town. We increased the hostel fees because the current hostel fees are not enough,” he said.

On Feb. 13, the university administration announced that hostel fees in NUS will increase by 60 to 75 per cent, which will be phased over three years.  

One of the major reasons for the fee hike was escalating costs over the years.  

Current renovation and cyclical maintenance costs amounting to about $1.5 million per hostel is paid for by tapping into other existing funds.  

Tan said, “Right now, we have been subsidising more than 50 to 60 per cent of the renovation cost. What about those who are not staying in hostels? I do not think it is fair for them to be deprived of this money.”

While the increase is certain, Tan said there might be one policy change to the hostel fee hike.  

He agreed that it might be unfair to charge a homogenous rate, as the facilities at some hostels are lousier and thus will not incur the same renovation cost.   

“I am willing to re-look at (the fees) at some of these other halls,” he said.