Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Education in each year from 2017 to 2023 (a) how many international students who received the MOE Tuition Grant graduated from local Institutes of Higher Learning; (b) how many failed to update the Ministry of their employment status with Singapore entities within (i) one year (ii) two years or (iii) three years of graduation; and (c) what are the most common reasons cited for being unable to find work in Singapore entities.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Education in each year from 2017 to 2023 (a) how many international students who received the MOE Tuition Grant applied for bond deferments due to their inability to find work in a Singapore entity; and (b) how many were granted bond deferments on that basis.
The Minister of State for Education (Ms Gan Siow Huang) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Question Nos 1 and 2 together?
Mr Speaker: Please proceed.
Ms Gan Siow Huang: From 2017 to 2023, on average, about 2,900 international students who received the Tuition Grant graduate each year from our polytechnics and autonomous universities. Within the first three years of graduating, more than eight in 10 are employed. Of the remainder, the majority are granted deferment for further studies.
Mr Speaker: Mr Giam.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): Sir, I do not think the Minister of State answered my question about how many students have not fulfilled the conditions for the tuition grant, including getting local employment. Is that something the Ministry is pursuing?
Ms Gan Siow Huang: Mr Speaker, from 2017 to 2023, we were not informed of the employment status in the first three years after graduation for about 5% of the international students who receive the tuition grant. We take the bond obligations of the international students on tuition grants seriously and we will pursue the international students who default on their obligations.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Can the Minister of State explained how exactly the Ministry pursues these students who do not fulfil their tuition grant obligations?
Ms Gan Siow Huang: For those who fail to pay the liquidated damages, actions will be taken to prevent them from working or residing in Singapore. As I had explained earlier on, there is a serious view taken by the Ministry towards the obligations of these international students who have taken tuition grants.
Mr Speaker: Mr Giam.
Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: Just one more clarification on that point. The Minister of State said actions will be taken to prevent them from working in Singapore. But is it not that one of the requirements of the tuition grants is for them to work in Singapore for three years after they graduate? So, is there any other measures that the Ministry takes to ensure that they pay back what they are supposed to pay back?
Ms Gan Siow Huang: For the individuals who fail to honour their obligations for the tuition grants, we do look at the reasons. Some of them cite genuine reasons such as health and that they find could not employment in Singapore. In those cases, we will ask them to pay the liquidated damages.
As I have said earlier on, majority of deferments that were sought were based on the international students’ request for further studies. Not that they do not want to find employment, but they want to pursue further studies. For such cases, they will find employment after they have completed their further studies.
Mr Speaker: Assoc Prof Jamus Lim.
Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim (Sengkang): Could I just check with the Minister of State two things? First, what is the breakeven in terms of taxpayers’ subsidies for the number of years if one of these students were to stay in Singapore and work, in terms of, perhaps, what they return in tax revenues and the like, that would be taken from them when they work here.
Secondly, if the Ministry would clarify what the overall motivation is for providing these tuition grants – is it limited purely to providing a source of manpower or is there some soft power considerations that are also included?
Ms Gan Siow Huang: For the first supplementary question, I do not have the answer off-hand. I ask the Member to file another Parliamentary Question.
For the second one, having international students adds to the diversity of the overall education experience of our students and cultivates our students’ sense of global orientation and ability to understand cultural practices across different nations. I think this is a healthy development and we want to encourage our students to be widely exposed to students of other nationalities.
Ministry of Education
28 February 2024
https://sprs.parl.gov.sg/search/#/sprs3topic?reportid=oral-answer-3486
Office of the Leader of the Opposition 