Measures to Further Differentiate Citizens, Permanent Residents and International Students in Education
1The Ministry of Education (MOE) will put in place measures to differentiate between Singapore Citizens (SCs) and Permanent Residents (PRs) at the Primary One (P1) Registration Exercise from 2010 onwards. School fees payable by SCs, PRs and International Students (IS) will also be further differentiated from 2011 onwards.
2Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in a speech delivered at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Students’ Union Ministerial Forum on 15 Sep 2009, said that the Government will, over time, sharpen the differentiation between SCs, PRs and foreigners to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship.
Differentiation at the Primary One (P1) Registration Exercise
3Under the existing Primary One (P1) Registration Framework, vacancies are balloted if the number of applications exceeds the vacancies at a school during that particular registration phase. SCs and PRs are currently given one ballot slip each during the balloting exercise. Please refer to Annex A for the existing framework.
4From 2010, SCs will be given an additional ballot slip (i.e. two chances instead of one), while PRs will retain one ballot slip whenever balloting is conducted by any school during the P1 Registration Exercise. SCs will therefore have a higher chance of securing a place for their child in a school of choice when there is balloting.
5Giving Singaporeans two chances during balloting will retain the underlying principles of our existing P1 Registration Framework and provide for diversity in our schools, while simultaneously according Singaporean citizens an additional privilege.
6International Students (IS) will continue to be eligible to register after SCs and PRs are placed, at Phase 3 of the P1 Registration Exercise.
Revised Fee Framework for Permanent Residents and International Students
7To achieve a sharper differentiation by citizenship, the Government will be further increasing the fees of PRs and IS in 2011. Fees for PRs will increase by between $36.50 and $73 per month, and those for IS will increase by between $100 and $400 per month. Details of the new fee structures for PRs and IS are at Annex B.
8To minimise the impact on existing students, the increase will be spread over two years from 2011. Fees will also remain competitive compared to international and private schools, to continue to encourage PRs and IS to join our mainstream schools.