The Ministry of Education (MOE) clarified in a Facebook post on Dec. 6 that it offers scholarships to students from all over the world, not just India.

It said that its scholarships and financial aid are offered "predominantly to Singaporeans".

However, a "small number" were awarded to promising students from ASEAN countries, China and India.

1 in 16,000 students

MOE stated that these international students on scholarships make up just 0.9 per cent of Singapore's secondary and pre-university students.

Out of this number, only 0.7 per cent of them are from India. MOE pointed out:

"So 0.7% of 0.9% - or 1 in 16,000 - are scholarship holders from India."

MOE added:

"MOE works with organisations, including A*Star and SIA, to administer some of the scholarships schemes, each targeting a different country.

MOE will look into amending the websites, so as not to give the impression that the scholarships only target students from a particular country."

You can see their Facebook post below:

Criticism from Lim Tean

MOE's post came after a screen shots and links of two youth scholarships -- A*Star and SIA -- began circulating online.

People's Voice leader Lim Tean blasted MOE in a Facebook post on Dec. 5, saying:

"The PAP government is already allowing so many Indian families to come into our country under CECA, and yet MOE is still giving out scholarships to Indian students such as the one below."

The post included a link to the A*Star Youth Scholarship on MOE's website, which included the following criteria:

You can see his post below:

Activist and former Reform Party member Gilbert Goh also wrote about this issue, saying "Shame on MOE!"

His post included a screen shot of the SIA Youth Scholarship on MOE's website:

Top image from MOE and Lim Tean's Facebook pages.