Madam Tan Ling Ling is a mother of four, a school administrative officer by day and a student by night.

Since October last year, the 46-year-old has been going for evening classes three times a week at Nanyang Polytechnic, where she is learning about service management and customer relations.

From next year, she will be receiving higher bursaries for her diploma course, with the Government increasing bursary amounts for part-time students.

She currently gets $600 in bursaries annually, and this will likely go up to $800 next year.

Any financial support will be helpful, said Madam Tan, whose husband works as an engineer. They live in a four-room Housing Board flat in Ang Mo Kio and have three sons in secondary school and a daughter in primary school.

Asked how she juggles work and studies, she said: "It is no joke. It is quite tiring, and I sacrifice family time because I have to study at night or on weekends."

But she is determined to finish her 21/2-year course and graduate in March 2021 despite the challenges.

She had to put the thought of a part-time diploma on hold when her second son was diagnosed with Stage 4 lymphoma in 2017.

"It was a challenging time, and I had to be away from work for six months to look after him," she said.

Her son stopped school in Primary 6 to go for chemotherapy treatment, and she was by his side in hospital for about half a year.

His cancer is in remission and the 14-year-old, who is now in secondary school, goes for a check-up every three months.

"I want to upgrade myself so that the higher qualification will be useful if I change careers or take on a new job role. Hopefully, I can get higher pay too," said Madam Tan, who has been working in a primary school for about 25 years.

She had started work immediately after completing her O levels due to her family's circumstances then, and it was only a few years ago that she finished a part-time Higher Nitec qualification in event management at the Institute of Technical Education.

"Maybe in the future, if I have the time and energy, I can try for a degree too," she said.