Edusave Award winners from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and polytechnics will no longer have to wait two days to get their award money.

For the first time, PayNow will be used to disburse the awards, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday. The awards were started in 1993.

It will first be used in April, involving 9,000 ITE students. Later in September, another 25,000 ITE and polytechnic students will be able to benefit from this.

PayNow is a service that lets people transfer money to each other almost instantly, just by using their mobile number or NRIC number or FIN (foreign identification number). MOE said this is being introduced "for greater convenience and efficiency, in line with Singapore's efforts to become a Smart Nation".

Award recipients currently get certificates and the money in the form of cheques. They would have to go to a bank to deposit the cheque, before getting the money within two working days. The use of PayNow means they will receive the money on the day of the awards ceremony itself, and they do not have to deposit cheques at a bank.

"MOE will share more details of the pilot with stakeholders such as grassroots advisers, constituency offices, ITE colleges, polytechnics, and award recipients before the first award ceremony in April," the ministry said. It added that it will send award recipients instructions on how to sign up for the service using their NRIC number, along with the letter to inform them they had won the award.

MOE will review the process after this year, to see if the use of PayNow can be extended to all other students too.

Fabian Koh