Public Benefit of the Tuition Grant Scheme for IS

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim, Sengkang GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education what is the respective estimated number of years that a recipient of the Ministry's Tuition Grant Scheme for (i) polytechnics and (ii) universities will have to work and pay taxes before the costs of the grant are recovered.

Response

1. The Tuition Grant Scheme supports international students to study in Singapore, by defraying part of the cost of the school fees. Tuition Grant recipients nevertheless continue to pay fees which are higher than that for Singaporean students. As students, they contribute to the vibrancy of the learning environment and student life in our Institutes of Higher Learning.

2. In return for the Tuition Grant, recipients are bonded to work in Singapore after graduation for three years to contribute to our economy. A proportion of them go on to contribute to Singapore as Permanent Residents and naturalised Singapore Citizens. For those who eventually leave Singapore, they continue to be part of our valuable global network, through friendships and economic links forged here.

3. The contributions of Tuition Grant recipients to Singapore as well as to our students are both qualitative and quantitative.