SCHEME FOR HIGHER STUDIES FOR SERVICE PERSONNEL

Encik Mansor Haji Sukaimi asked the Minister of Defence and Second Minister for Health, since the implementation of the scheme to encourage the service personnel to undertake degree/diploma courses in Singapore and overseas universities, how many persons have benefitted from the scheme, stating the numbers by rank, and types of degrees/diplomas attained; and what was the total expenditure incurred.

Mr Goh Chok Tong: Over the last five years, a total of 239 servicemen have successfully obtained University degrees and Polytechnic diplomas through the SAF education upgrading scheme. This scheme provides educational opportunities up to university level to SAF personnel seeking higher education. Under the scheme, servicemen are given scholarships and training awards, or are granted no-pay study leave with loan and grant. Of the 239 personnel, 79 obtained Polytechnic diplomas, 75 obtained local University degrees and 85 obtained overseas university degrees. Among the 85 overseas university graduates are 30 SAF scholars who attended Oxbridge and other UK universities, and 3 senior SAF officers who obtained Masters degrees in the United States. The breakdown by rank is as follows (Table 1): ______________________________________________________________ Rank at time Polytechnic Local Overseas Total of award University University ______________________________________________________________ COL and above -- -- 3 3 LTC -- -- -- -- MAJ -- 3 -- 3 CPT 1 7 15 23 LTA 13 48 12 87 2LT 1 16 29 46 OCT -- 1 26 27 SSG 4 -- -- 4 SGT 12 -- -- 12 CPL 32 -- -- 32 LCP 12 -- -- 12 PTE 4 -- -- 4 ______________________________________________________________ Total 79 75 85 239 Table 1: SAF servicemen who obtained degrees/diplomas 1978-82 The university degrees are mostly in Science, Arts and Social Sciences, Business Administration, and Engineering. The Polytechnic courses are in electrical and mechanical engineering. Total expenditure incurred was about $4.6 million.

The number of SAF servicemen being put through higher education has been increasing year by year. Currently there are 244 servicemen in various stages of polytechnic and university education. Of these, 25 are attending Polytechnic courses, 141 are in NUS and NTI, and 78 are in overseas universities. The breakdown by rank is as follows (Table 2): ______________________________________________________________ Rank at time Polytechnic Local Overseas Total of award University University ______________________________________________________________ COL and -- -- 2 2 above LTC -- 1 -- 1 MAJ -- 20 2 22 CPT -- 30 9 39 LTA 1 62 22 85 2LT -- 22 28 50 OCT -- 6 15 21 SGT 5 -- -- 5 CPL 19 -- -- 19 ______________________________________________________________ Total 25 141 78 244 Table 2: SAF servicemen on degree/diploma courses, 1983