Press Releases
More Help for Needy Students
Needy students can look forward to more financial aid as the Ministry of Education (MOE) enhances its financial assistance measures to help students cope with the current economic downturn.
At the primary, secondary and pre-university levels, MOE will enhance the benefits under the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (MOE FAS). MOE will also provide a one-time grant to schools to support school-based financial assistance schemes. The Ministry expects to spend $23.4 million on these schemes in 2009.
For students in post-secondary educational institutions, MOE will introduce a new Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme, as well as implement a one-year suspension of the repayment of Tuition Fee Loan and Study Loan.
Assistance for Primary, Secondary and Pre-University Students
There are two avenues of financial assistance for primary, secondary and pre-university students in mainstream schools, the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme and school-based financial assistance schemes. Both these avenues will receive a boost.
Under the enhancement to the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), MOE FAS recipients will receive more assistance with immediate effect. Students at the primary and secondary levels will now receive help on a wider range of school essentials. In addition to free textbooks that MOE FAS recipients currently receive, they will also get free school attire, which will defray a substantial cost for lower-income families. At the pre-university level, students will receive a bursary of S$750 from MOE, an increase of S$250 in bursary support to help them cover textbooks, stationery and other schooling expenses. Parents and students can approach the schools directly if they require financial assistance. The eligibility criteria and the enhanced FAS benefits are shown in Annex A (41kb .pdf). With the enhanced FAS, MOE’s budget for the MOE FAS will increase by an estimated $7.3 million, from $10.7 million in 2008 to $18 million in 2009.
In addition to the MOE FAS, schools also provide discretionary assistance to needy students (e.g. transport allowance, meal coupons) using donated funds. Schools are well placed to assess their student’s specific needs and to provide additional support where necessary. School-based schemes can be extended to those who do not meet the qualifying criteria for the MOE FAS, in addition to those on the FAS.
As schools might find it more difficult to raise funds under the current tough economic conditions, MOE will provide a one-time $10,000 grant to all schools via their School Advisory Committees / School Management Committees. MOE will also provide an additional $10,000 top-up to schools which have more than 10 per cent of students under the MOE FAS. This one-time grant will ensure that all schools have sufficient funds for school-based financial assistance to help students from families affected by the economic downturn, including those not on the MOE FAS. The estimated cost for providing grants to schools is $5.4 million.
Assistance for Post-Secondary Students
Singaporean students in post-secondary educational institutions who face financial difficulty can also apply for assistance through MOE’s new Short-Term Study Assistance Scheme (SSAS) from Academic Year (AY) 2009. This is to help students whose families might face temporary financial difficulties, e.g. as a result of breadwinners losing their jobs. The SSAS will provide up to $2,060 worth of additional assistance per year to Singaporean students pursuing subsidised degree, diploma and ITE programmes at the three autonomous universities, polytechnics and ITE. The actual quantum given out will depend on the level of study and the help needed by individual students. To qualify, the applicant’s gross monthly household per capita income should be $1,700 and below, and the student should be already receiving existing financial assistance such as loans and bursaries. Students can approach the institution at which they are studying for details on the SSAS.
The SSAS will be implemented for an initial duration of 2 years from AY2009 to AY2010. Following that, MOE will review the provision of the SSAS depending on the economic outlook at that time. Annex B (53kb .pdf) shows the government financial assistance schemes that are available to post-secondary students.
In addition MOE will also suspend the repayment of Tuition Fee Loans (TFL) and Study Loans (SL) for a year for all university and polytechnic graduates, from 1 Apr 2009 to 31 Mar 2010. During this period, students will not have to repay their loans and no interest will be levied on any outstanding loan. All graduates who have taken loans under the TFL and SL schemes will have their repayments suspended automatically. This includes graduates who are already servicing their loans as well as those who will start their repayments before 31 Mar 2010.
Conclusion
The enhancements to the various financial assistance schemes are part of the Government’s continual efforts to ensure that the schemes stay relevant and responsive to the needs of Singaporeans. The Government will ensure that no Singaporean child is denied an education due to financial difficulties.