Poly ITE Fee Increase

Name and Constituency of  Member of Parliament

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan – Hong Kah GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the basis for the recent polytechnic and Institute of Technical Education (ITE) fee increases; and (b) how will polytechnics and ITEs ensure that all students who have genuine difficulties paying their tuition fees are assisted.

Response

For the new academic year 2006, the polytechnics and ITE will increase their tuition fees by $50 and $10 respectively.  The fee increases will help cover cost increases arising from higher manpower and other operating costs.

2.         The Government continues to subsidise polytechnic and ITE education substantially. For the polytechnics, fees account for about 13% of costs on average. For the ITE, they account for about 3% of costs. The fee increases this year will preserve these cost recovery ratios. 

3.         To assist students who have difficulties paying their tuition fees, there is a range of financial assistance schemes offered by the Government, polytechnics and ITE, community groups and private organisations[1]. These include the CDC-CCC Bursary (Community Development Councils-Citizens’ Consultative Committee) Awards and the bursaries offered by the individual polytechnics and ITE.

4.         For polytechnic students, the Government also provides the Tuition Fee Loan Scheme which can cover up to 75% of thetuition fee.   Those in financial need can apply for the Study Loan Scheme which provides a loan of up to the other 25% of the tuition fee and a living allowance of $1,000 per year. 

5.         One-quarter of polytechnic students and one-third of ITE students receive some form of financial assistance.

6.         I would like to reassure Dr Amy Khor that MOE, together with the polytechnics and ITE, will continue to ensure that no student admitted to these post-secondary institutions is denied the opportunity to study at these institutions because of financial difficulties.

Infrastructure

Name and Constituency of  Member of Parliament

Mdm Ho Geok Choo – West Coast GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education (a) if there are any steps in place to ensure that institutions of higher learning do not overspend on building infrastructure; (b) how does his Ministry moderate government expenditure on building design and other infrastructure design; and (c) can the savings on recurring expenditure on design and maintenance be channeled to stave off the need to raise school tuition fees.

Response

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has an evaluation process to ensure that development spending by institutions of higher learning and for that matter, by schools, provides educational benefit and is cost-effective.

2.         MOE adopts cost norms that are established across the public sector.  This is to ensure that building designs are primarily functional, not lavish, so as to avoid excessive building costs.  For projects exceeding $50 million, MOE also seeks approval by the Development Project Committee (comprises 3 Ministers including the Minister of Finance].  This provides an additional layer of check for bigger value projects.

3.         MOE is mindful of the need to maintain good financial discipline as we have to optimise the allocation and utilisation of the budget for MOE as a whole, and for each institution under the Ministry.  This will ensure that the institutions’ total costs would be kept down and thereby ease the pressure on significant fees increases over time.  

Scholarship

Name and Constituency of  Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Ong Soh Khim (Nominated Member)

Question No. 336

To ask the Minister for Education, from 2001 to 2005, (a) what are the yearly percentages of undergraduates with scholarships in the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University respectively; (b) what are the ratios of local to foreign students in these percentages; and (c) how many of these scholarships are sponsored by industries, universities, government related boards and research agencies respectively.

Question No. 337

To ask the Minister for Education, from 2001 to 2005, (a) what are the yearly percentages of postgraduates with scholarships in the National University of Singapore and Nanyang Technological University respectively; (b) what are the ratios of local to foreign students in these percentages; and (c) how many of these scholarships are sponsored by industries, universities, government related boards and research agencies respectively; and (d) what are the ratios of local to foreign postgraduates holding university sponsored scholarships.

Response

On average, about 14% of our undergraduates and 30% of our postgraduates in NUS and NTU in 2001-2005 were on scholarships.  About one-third of the undergraduate scholars were local students.  One quarter of the postgraduate scholars were local students.

The largest segment of undergraduate scholarships comes from industry, which offers about 54% of the scholarships. The Government’s share is about 35%.  The universities have been increasing their provision of undergraduate scholarships, with their share rising from about 8% in 2001 to 11% in 2005.  The remainder comprising less than 1% has been offered by research agencies.

On the other hand, the universities themselves account for the bulk of postgraduate scholarships, although their share has declined from about 90% in 2001 to 79% in 2005.  The industry and research agencies have been increasing their provision of postgraduate scholarships.  The number of postgraduate scholarships offered by industry has increased from about 5% in 2001 to 12% in 2005.  Similarly, those offered by research agencies have increased from about 2% in 2001 to 6% in 2005.  The postgraduate scholarships offered by the Government have also been on a rising trend.  Currently, the Government offers about 3% of the postgraduate scholarships.

Currently, about 25% of the scholars holding university-sponsored postgraduate scholarships are local students.