EDUCATING FOREIGN STUDENTS USING PUBLIC MONIES

EDUCATING FOREIGN STUDENTS USING PUBLIC MONIES

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(Tertiary level): **

9.

Ms Sylvia Lim asked the Minister for Education for the last three years, how much public monies were spent annually on educating foreign students at the tertiary level in our public sector education institutions, with a breakdown of the key items of expenditure.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The Government's annual recurrent spending on foreign students over the last three years is estimated at about $154 million in the three publicly-funded universities and about $69 million in the five polytechnics. This is about one fifth and one tenth of the total annual recurrent grants disbursed by MOE to the universities and the polytechnics respectively, and is based on the proportion of foreign students in the total student population. This spending goes towards meeting the operating expenditures incurred by these institutions in teaching its students. These primarily comprise manpower, equipment and other operating expenditures.

Foreign students have to meet at least the same admission standards to enter the tertiary institutions as local students. They pay higher fees than local students. As announced earlier, from AY2008 onwards, fees for foreign students will be increased from 1.1 times local fees to 1.5 times.

In return for the subsidies they receive, FS are bound by MOE's Tuition Grant obligation, where they have to work for Singapore-based companies for three years upon graduation. Those who do not wish to meet this obligation pay full fees with no public subsidy.

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