POST-SECONDARY FOREIGN STUDENTS (Part-time work)

Dr Ker Sin Tze asked the Minister for Manpower whether he will allow post-secondary foreign students to do part-time work in order to relieve the labour shortage in certain trades.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, since 1st July 1994, my Ministry had allowed foreign students above 14 years of age and who are full-time matriculated or registered students of approved institutions of higher learning, post-secondary, and secondary schools to work during their vacation without having to apply for a work permit.

Since January 1997, we have also allowed full time foreign students in our tertiary institutions to work part time without the need to apply for a work permit. The maximum hours of work should be no more than 16 hours a week and these students should first seek the permission of their tertiary institution before working. This is to ensure that their studies will not be adversely affected by their part-time work. As the number of foreign students in tertiary institutions who intend to take up part-time work is relatively small, the exemption from a work permit is not so much to help ease our tight labour market but to provide foreign students an avenue to finance part of their studies in Singapore.

With effect from 1st February 2001, foreign students from the following tertiary institutions: La-Salle-SIA College of the Arts, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, the INSEAD, Singapore, and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in Singapore, have also been exempted from applying for a work permit if they intend to work part-time.