SINGAPORE - Students seeking a career in the public service in the field of sustainability can apply for a new category of public service commission (PSC) scholarships from next year.
If successful in getting the scholarship, the students will have opportunities to work in different sectors of the public service, focusing on sustainability initiatives and policies, said the Public Service Division (PSD) on Wednesday (July 20).
In an address during a ceremony at Parkroyal Hotel in Beach Road, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, who is also the Minister-in-Charge of the Public Service, said the new scholarships will help Singapore build its capability to cope with climate change.
Climate change is a looming crisis for city-states like Singapore, added Mr Chan.
PSD, in a statement, said the sustainability scholarships will fund both undergraduate and master's programmes, and are targeted at those with a keen interest in areas like climate change, clean energy, urban planning and green financing.
Applications open on Sept 1, and those who are selected will start their career in a role related to sustainability and circularity, the statement added.
Circularity refers to a concept in sustainability where products go back into the economy after being used, instead of being disposed of.
Mr Chan outlined three values that all the scholarship recipients need to bring Singapore forward - gumption, tenacity and mission.
The successful scholarship holders will be going to universities in Singapore and abroad to study a range of disciplines, from engineering to political science.
PSC chairman Lee Tzu Yang said the PSC looks beyond intellect and grades in selecting scholarship holders.
He said out of 2,000 candidates who applied, the 66 who were eventually selected exemplify the qualities of integrity, dedication to service and excellence.
He added that PSC is making steady progress on reaching out to a wider range of candidates.
He said this year's scholarship recipients come from 17 different institutions, including schools running the Integrated Programme, the International Baccalaureate and the polytechnics.
Six of this year's recipients were from the polytechnics, he added.
One of these, Mr Taufiq Mohammed, 21, who studied information security and forensics at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, will be studying computer science at the National University of Singapore on the PSC Scholarship (Engineering).
He told The Straits Times that an internship experience at Open Government Products during his final year in polytechnic opened his eyes to the use of technology in the public sector and motivated him to apply for the scholarship.
Open Government Products is an experimental development team within GovTech which works on technology for the public sector.
Mr Taufiq said: "Looking at examples like the Singpass app and the anti-scam application Scamshield, I saw how building public-facing tech can benefit the Singapore public."
