TRINITY COLLEGE Dublin has signed a landmark deal with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) to provide degrees in occupational therapy and physiotherapy to students in Singapore.

The degrees will be Singapore’s first full-time degrees in occupational therapy and physiotherapy, and TCD provost Dr Patrick Prendergast went to Singapore to sign the deal.

“This is real globalisation of higher education. We have negotiated and established a joint programme for teaching physiotherapists.

“The Singaporeans searched the world for a partner and now they have begun a partnership with us to do a BSc in physiotherapy and occupational therapy,” said Dr Prendergast.

The deal was “very innovative” and had fallen into place quite quickly.

“We’re very excited about the potential, to see it recognised and to see the demand on the other side of the globe,” he said.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by the minister for health in Singapore, Gan Kim Yong.

There are about 100 Irish speech therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists working in Singapore, and the city-state is looking to increase the number of health professionals to meet growing demand for care by 50 per cent in the next eight years, a rise of 20,000 people.

Classes for the pioneer cohort have started and are being conducted at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), forming part of the SIT distributed campus.

All students already have diplomas in occupational therapy and physiotherapy and the new bachelor of science programmes in occupational therapy and physiotherapy provided by Trinity will confer an honours degree on them on graduation after one year.

“The strengths in education and health have long been recognised in Singapore and it is acknowledged as an educational hub and a centre of excellence in Asia. There is a long history of students from Singapore coming to TCD to study medicine.

“We are delighted to be now in a position that we will have graduates in other health science areas,” said the provost.

The need for more qualified professionals in the health sciences field in Singapore is obvious, said SIT president Prof Tan Chin Tiong.

“Our partnership with Trinity College Dublin is a great opportunity for existing diploma-holder practitioners to upgrade themselves locally,” said Prof Tan.

Singapore and Ireland share many similarities in their healthcare environment and population demographics.

Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly and the focus is increasingly on managing chronic disease.

During his Asia trip, Dr Prendergast was looking at developing exchange agreements with blue-chip colleges in China, including Tsinghua and Peking University, which will give Irish students an opportunity to spend a semester abroad as part of their studies.

“If our students are going to be educated as global citizens, we need these semesters abroad,” he said.