E-learning university targets student market in Singapore

More than 1,500 Singaporean students are expected to enrol with Scotland's Interactive University, generating an anticipated £6 million over the next three years, writes Olga Wojtas.

The news was announced this week in Singapore by Scotland's deputy first minister Jim Wallace, who was there to open Scottish Development International's new incubator centre for Scottish companies aiming to grow their market in Southeast Asia.

The centre's first occupant is the Interactive University, a company established by Heriot-Watt University and Scottish Enterprise. It has signed an agreement with the Nanyang Institute of Management, to offer students Scottish undergraduate and postgraduate courses through e-learning.

The Interactive University has 40 "local learning partners" in 20 countries, with whom it operates in tandem, serving more than 90,000 students. Half the student fees stay with the local partner.

Mr Wallace said: "Interactive University's distributed learning model means students in Singapore can stay at home while studying internationally recognised degrees."