In the last two months, applications for bursaries offered by such groups - from the Singapore Buddhist Lodge to the Singapore Indian Development Association (Sinda) - have gone up by at least 20 per cent, say their leaders.

Many, in response, are expanding their bursary budgets. New funds have been set up to pay for textbooks, transport fees and other miscellaneous costs for school.

Read Yen Feng's full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.