OVERSEAS MISSIONS (Records and welfare of overseas students)

Mr Ng Kah Ting asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Labour whether overseas missions maintain records of the numbers of Singapore students studying in their respective countries; and whether he will consider appointing more students directors in overseas missions to look after the welfare of our overseas students.

Mr S. Rajaratnam: To answer the second part of the question first, a Students Director has been appointed in our London Mission and one of his first tasks is to compile complete statistics of our students in the whole of the United Kingdom, with full details of their background and the courses they are pursuing.

In the case of Australia, it is not practical to have a Students Director resident in Canberra where our Mission is located, as the number of students there is relatively few. Nor is it practical to have one stationed in another city because our students are scattered over a very wide area. Instead a number of Students Liaison Officers have been appointed on a part-time basis in several states. A similar situation exists in the United States, though instead of our own Students Liaison Officers, each university there is well served by a separate department for the administration and counselling of foreign students.

In other countries, like New Zealand, India, Japan and various European countries, our student population is too small to justify the appointment of a Students Director.

As for statistics of students, complete statistics of both private and Government students in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand are maintained by our respective Diplomatic Missions there. For the other countries, fairly reliable estimates of total numbers are available, besides accurate and fairly comprehensive information of Government scholars. Appendix to Mr Barker's motion on "Department Titles" at column 181(Cols 0217-0232)