With the cost of living in Singapore constantly rising, will residents be able to cope with these changes?

 

“I think that the school fees for polytechnics and ITE are actually quite expensive already, so having a rise would be quite devastating for some financially challenged families,” says Teddy.

 

Chin Ian Shuin, 17, a Singaporean student from ITE Central Interior Design says, “For me, my family can still cover the fees without too much of a problem… but I have friends who were already struggling to pay school fees who are now affected even more by this increase.”

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Aishwariya Lakshmi Vigneswaran, 17, a Permanent Resident (PR) and polytechnic student in the April 2022 semester, was unaware that school fees were rising. However, she says that “the fees have been increasing” since she started studying in Singapore so “it isn’t very shocking that it’s going to be the same for polytechnic”. 

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Aishwariya finds it appalling that the yearly school fees for Singaporean students are lesser than the monthly school fees of PR and International students. 

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In light of the pandemic, the increase in school fees comes as a shock for many as there are students experiencing partial Home-Based Learning (HBL) lessons. 

 

Ian Shuin says, “When my sister first entered poly[technic], she was doing HBL for almost the whole of the first year, so the fees didn’t seem like it needed to be so high because she couldn’t get the full experience.” He hopes he won't have to go through the same thing. 

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Ian Shuin’s parents are okay with the rise in fees and taught him that they should “count [their] blessings” as they’re “still lucky enough to be able to afford school”.

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Teddy shares Ian Shuin’ sentiment. He says, “I also hope there would be more face-to-face lessons instead of having HBL as I’ve heard from my friends that ITEs right now are having online studying more than physical [lessons].”

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However, Teddy’s parents were shocked by the increase and “would have to save more money from [their] expenses” to pay for the fees.

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When asked how parents and students should view the issue, Mr James Sharpe, a lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, says, “…there isn’t enough awareness of just how much of life is subsidised by government policies.” Rather than an increase in fees, he says it was “more like there is a decrease in the subsidy”.

 

Mr Sharpe also shares a video released on YouTube by the Singapore Government about the subsidies that Singaporean students receive. 

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“There are always measures and programmes to help those who can’t afford [the tuition fees],” says Mr Sharpe.

 

Different polytechnics award their own bursaries and grants. For all polytechnics, students seeking financial aid can do a Google search by typing their school name with the word “financial aid”. 

 

Alternatively, MOE does offer students a Tuition Grant. Singaporean students are automatically offered the grant and it’s dependent on them to use it or not. However, PR and international students have to manually apply for the grant and serve a 3-year bond with a Singapore organisation if the grant is approved. As the amount granted to the student is based on what’s written on their account on the tuition grant website, the amount may differ from student to student.

Despite the various subsidies, Mr Ong Ye Kung, the former Education Minister said to TODAY Online,

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