SINGAPORE - About 10,500 more students will be eligible for financial help to defray school expenses, as the Ministry of Education (MOE) raises the income eligibility cap for financial assistance schemes.
The gross household monthly income ceiling will be raised from $2,750 to $3,000, and the per capita income ceiling will go up from $690 to $750.
The income eligibility criteria was last revised in 2018.
The changes will take effect from January 2023 for primary, secondary and pre-university students. The revisions will also apply to students in special education schools and independent schools.
For students in post-secondary education institutions such as polytechnics, the change in household income criteria will start from the academic year (AY) 2023.
This is expected to bring the total number of students receiving financial assistance to about 135,500, said the MOE in a statement on Friday.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong announced these changes on Friday at a press conference as part of a new $1.5 billion support package targeted at helping Singaporeans cope with rising prices.
From AY2023, Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students will also receive more support through government bursaries, with those from lower-income households getting the highest increase.
Full-time ITE Nitec and higher Nitec students from families with a gross household monthly income of $3,000 and below will have their tuition fees fully covered, and receive an annual bursary amount of $1,600, up from $1,500 currently.
With the revised income criteria, around 19,500 ITE students will be eligible for financial assistance, up from about 18,000 now.
The MOE said it is reviewing bursaries for diploma and undergraduate students and will share more details later.
These latest enhancements follow MOE's announcement in August on increasing transport and meal subsidies for needy primary and secondary students and bursaries for pre-university students, which also take effect from Jan 1.
In a Facebook post on the latest changes on Friday, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said: "Education must remain accessible to all students, regardless of their backgrounds."
The MOE also said that it will revise the qualifying income cap for the Edusave Merit Bursary, from $6,900 to $7,500. This will apply from 2023.
This award is given to primary to polytechnic students who are within the top 25 per cent of their school's level and course in terms of academic performance and have shown good conduct.
From AY2023, MOE will also increase the cash award for the merit-based ITE Community Scholarship to $1,800, up from $1,600.
It will continue to provide 100 per cent fee subsidy for those receiving this scholarship, which is given to the top 10 per cent of N or O-level students in each intake.
