Use of Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA) Funds for Degree Courses

Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Education if the Ministry could allow National Servicemen to use the NS Incentive Award that is credited into their Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA) to finance their degree courses at private institutions in Singapore other than at Singapore Management University and SIM University as long as their courses are permitted by the Council for Private Education.

The Minister of State for Education (Mr Lawrence Wong) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, Sir, I thank Mr Zainal for his question and suggestion. Currently, monies from the Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA) can be used to pay the fees of full-time and part-time Government-subsidised courses at publicly-funded institutions, where there is greater assurance of the quality and education outcomes. These include degree programmes at our four Autonomous Universities (NUS, NTU, SMU and the new SUTD), the Singapore Institute of Technology and UniSIM, as well as diploma programmes at our five polytechnics; NITEC and Higher NITEC programmes at ITE; and MOE-subsidised programmes at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the LASALLE School of the Arts.

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Nevertheless, we note that there has been public feedback to extend some form of financing support, including the use of PSEA funds, to students who choose to pursue degrees in private education institutions. As Members are aware, I currently chair a Committee on University Expansion Pathways, and the Committee is looking not just at increasing the number of places for university students but also the affordability and financing of university education. So, this suggestion is something that the Committee would look at in the course of our deliberations.