Over the past five years, an average of 1,600 international students have received the Ministry of Education's (MOE) Tuition Grant Scheme (TGS) per year, said Minister for Education Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Tuesday (Oct. 6).

This is less than 10 per cent of each cohort's intake, he said in his response to parliamentary questions posed by Members of Parliament Darryl David and Jamus Lim.

No Singaporean student has been displaced by an international student: Wong

David asked Wong about the number of international students who have been accepted into local universities under the TGS, and whether the number has been reduced due to Covid-19 and resulted in more places for Singaporean students.

"The objective of our education system is to serve the needs of Singaporeans," responded Wong.

He explained that places in autonomous universities are planned for Singaporeans, in line with the cohort participation target of 40 per cent.

First, universities admit Singaporean students who meet their admission standards. They then "raise the bar a few notches" and admit a small number of international students, "over and above the local students".

More places were set aside for Singaporean students in autonomous universities this year, in order to take into account those whose plans to study overseas were disrupted by the pandemic, Wong said.

"As such," he stated, "no Singaporean student is displaced from an [autonomous university] because of an international student."

International students add to diversity of education experience

Having international students "adds to the diversity of the overall education experience and cultivates students' global orientation and intercultural skills", said Wong.

It also better prepares students for their future workplaces, he added, where they may have to interact with people of different nationalities.

Over the past five years, an average of around 1,600 international students received the TGS in each cohort over the past five years, Wong announced.

This is less than 10 per cent of each intake.

For the current academic year, Wong said that MOE is still finalising the numbers, but that they expect to see similar trends of less than 10 per cent. He added:

"We will continue to review and adjust the number of international students on Tuition Grant in the future, taking into consideration the quality of applicants and other factors."

Intake considerations and ratios

In response to David's follow-up question, Wong said that universities consider a variety of issues such as taking students from a range of different countries to the "absorption capacity" of the relevant industry when deciding how to offer places to international students.

Lim asked about the ratio of "scholarship recipients" who end up taking permanent residency or citizenship after finishing their studies. Wong replied that the TGS is not a scholarship, and that scholarships are a different category.

When Lim asked about the ratio of tuition grant recipients to scholarship recipients for foreign students, Wong said that other MPs have asked for such data in the past and it has been released.

Wong stated that if Lim filed a separate question about the ratio of scholarship recipients to TGS recipients, as well as a question about the ratio of scholarship holders who have gone on to become PRs or citizens, MOE would be "happy" to provide the information.

MOE will give fair treatment to recent graduates on TGS

David and Lim asked about the kinds of consequences international students who could not meet the TGS three-year bond commitment — due to the Covid-19 employment market and the newly-tightened restrictions for S Passes and Employment Passes — might face, as well as what contingency plans are in place for them.

Wong said that while MOE understands that recent graduates on the TGS may face challenges finding employment in the current economic climate, "our priority remains to support locals in finding employment."

However, he added that MOE will also give "fair treatment" to TGS holders, and that the Ministry works with universities and other public agencies to facilitate international students' applications for work pass arrangements, while also sticking to the Fair Considerations Framework (FCF).

Flexibility is also given, he said, when assessing these students' work pass applications, and that students are also given time to stay in Singapore to look for a job.

"Those who have genuine difficulties finding employment — be it here or abroad — may reach out to the universities and MOE, and we will assess their situation and see how best to assess them on a case-by-case basis."

"We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust our approach appropriate to the economic situation and outlook," he said.

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Top photos via CNA video.