Adverse impact of higher school fees for non-citizens
Employment pass holders with children may be discouraged from applying for PR
By LEE U-WEN 18 January 2010
The rationale behind the policy change was clear: School fees for foreign students studying in mainstream schools here would be raised in a year’s time, with the aim of drawing a greater distinction between Singaporeans and non-citizens.
Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Dec 20 that fees for permanent resident and international pupils would go up in two phases - first in 2011, then again a year later.
In some cases, fees will almost quadruple. For primary school students who are PRs, the current annual fee is $174. By 2012, this will be increased substantially to $612. As a whole, PRs now pay between $174 and $348 a year. By 2012, this will go up to between $612 and $1,224, depending on the level of education. Citizens, meanwhile, will indefinitely enjoy the existing subsidised rate of between $132 and $336 a year.
It was Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who first said at a university dialogue in September that the government would broadly, over time, sharpen the differentiation between citizens, PRs and foreigners to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
Mr. Ng has said that while non-citizens will still continue to receive a degree of subsidy, they will have to foot the bulk of the cost. What’s more, Singaporean children will soon be allowed two ballot slips to enrol in their preferred school, while PRs and foreigners will get just one slip.
The catchphrase seems to be that ‘citizenship comes with its privileges’, and that line of thinking is understandable. The move to increase fees so sharply will, according to the Education Ministry (MOE), ‘make more distinct’ the benefits for citizens, relative to PRs and international students.
‘The revised fees are still competitive compared with those charged by international and private schools,’ a ministry spokesman told BT in response to e-mail queries. It’s also apparent that the fee increase will also directly hurt the wallet of parents who are PRs but have chosen not to apply for PR status for their children studying here, especially sons - presumably to prevent them from having to serve National Service.
That is only fair. After all, a move to let children enjoy subsidised Singapore education without serving NS is akin to gaming the system and there should be a price to pay for this.
But could the fee increase inadvertently impact another key group - employment pass holders - who are professionals and executives who earn at least $2,500 a month and have recognised degrees and skills sets?
Many of them could be here to work but have not yet taken up PR yet. They would have to spend some time here on EP before applying for PR - which is ultimately what the government would ideally want them to do, with the eventual aim of finally taking up citizenship in the long run.
The one thing that could now discourage them from doing so is the cost of having their children study in Singapore, as the fees for this group will spiral quite substantially. According to the MOE, pupils who are non-PR and foreign-born pay $1,872 a year today, but will have to fork out $4,272 in two years’ time.
Assuming that one has two school-going children here, that amount to more than $8,500 in school fees alone - not a small sum considering that many employment pass holders are earning similar salaries to what locals get. Let’s not even talk about costs such as books, tuition lessons and pocket money.
It would be a waste if good talent that could have been rooted here ends up somewhere else in the end - simply because the cost of raising a family and sending children to school in Singapore is just too high.
With the fee increase coming into effect in less than a year from now, it doesn’t give them much time to make up their minds on whether to bring and raise their family here and call Singapore home.
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Adverse impact of higher school fees for non-citizens
Employment pass holders with children may be discouraged from applying for PR
By LEE U-WEN
18 January 2010
The rationale behind the policy change was clear: School fees for foreign students studying in mainstream schools here would be raised in a year’s time, with the aim of drawing a greater distinction between Singaporeans and non-citizens.
Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said on Dec 20 that fees for permanent resident and international pupils would go up in two phases - first in 2011, then again a year later.
In some cases, fees will almost quadruple. For primary school students who are PRs, the current annual fee is $174. By 2012, this will be increased substantially to $612. As a whole, PRs now pay between $174 and $348 a year. By 2012, this will go up to between $612 and $1,224, depending on the level of education. Citizens, meanwhile, will indefinitely enjoy the existing subsidised rate of between $132 and $336 a year.
It was Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong who first said at a university dialogue in September that the government would broadly, over time, sharpen the differentiation between citizens, PRs and foreigners to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
Mr. Ng has said that while non-citizens will still continue to receive a degree of subsidy, they will have to foot the bulk of the cost. What’s more, Singaporean children will soon be allowed two ballot slips to enrol in their preferred school, while PRs and foreigners will get just one slip.
The catchphrase seems to be that ‘citizenship comes with its privileges’, and that line of thinking is understandable. The move to increase fees so sharply will, according to the Education Ministry (MOE), ‘make more distinct’ the benefits for citizens, relative to PRs and international students.
‘The revised fees are still competitive compared with those charged by international and private schools,’ a ministry spokesman told BT in response to e-mail queries. It’s also apparent that the fee increase will also directly hurt the wallet of parents who are PRs but have chosen not to apply for PR status for their children studying here, especially sons - presumably to prevent them from having to serve National Service.
That is only fair. After all, a move to let children enjoy subsidised Singapore education without serving NS is akin to gaming the system and there should be a price to pay for this.
But could the fee increase inadvertently impact another key group - employment pass holders - who are professionals and executives who earn at least $2,500 a month and have recognised degrees and skills sets?
Many of them could be here to work but have not yet taken up PR yet. They would have to spend some time here on EP before applying for PR - which is ultimately what the government would ideally want them to do, with the eventual aim of finally taking up citizenship in the long run.
The one thing that could now discourage them from doing so is the cost of having their children study in Singapore, as the fees for this group will spiral quite substantially. According to the MOE, pupils who are non-PR and foreign-born pay $1,872 a year today, but will have to fork out $4,272 in two years’ time.
Assuming that one has two school-going children here, that amount to more than $8,500 in school fees alone - not a small sum considering that many employment pass holders are earning similar salaries to what locals get. Let’s not even talk about costs such as books, tuition lessons and pocket money.
It would be a waste if good talent that could have been rooted here ends up somewhere else in the end - simply because the cost of raising a family and sending children to school in Singapore is just too high.
With the fee increase coming into effect in less than a year from now, it doesn’t give them much time to make up their minds on whether to bring and raise their family here and call Singapore home.
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