SCHOLARSHIPS

Dr Lily Neo asked the Deputy Prime Minister whether the Government will consider giving (i) more varieties of scholarships in terms of varying years of bonding and amount of pecuniary involvement; (ii) prestige or acknowledgement scholarships with no monetary involvement; and (iii) scholarships with flexible terms like deferment of bond service for further postgraduate courses and/or training.

BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, Government scholarship today already vary in terms of the years of bond as well as in the pecuniary amount involved. The number of years of bond associated with the scholarship depends on the type of award and country of study. For PSC, for example, the bond is six years for US and UK; five years for France, Germany, Japan and PRC; and four years for the local scholarships. The amount of sponsorship also varies across countries, depending on the cost of the university education as well as the cost of living.

All Government scholarships are given for the purpose of identifying, inducting and grooming talent for the public sector. Thus, the Government is not in favour of awarding prestige or acknowledgement scholarship without the scholar making a commitment to serve in the public service. There is already much flexibility in the treatment of Government scholars. First, scholarship bonds have been shortened from six to eight years to now four to six years to keep up with the times. Scholars are now encouraged to pursue a much wider range of disciplines. Many scholarships also allow scholars who meet the criteria to go for postgraduate studies. For example, those who are on SAF, Police or PSC Overseas Merit Scholarships, have a Master's programme worked in as part of their scholarship term as long as they complete their studies in four years. 1.30 pm

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question time.

[Pursuant to Standing Order No. 21(3), Written Answers to Question Nos. 6-9, 11-13 and 16-17 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the section "Oral Answers to Questions Not Reached" (Cols. 775-784). Question Nos. 10, 14 and 15 have been postponed to the next sitting of Parliament.]