12 March 2015
- Waiver of national exam fees for Singapore Citizen students in Government-funded schools, vocational exam fees for Government-funded SPED schools and specialised schools and exam fees for Singapore Citizen students enrolled full-time in ITE and polytechnics from 2015.
- Increased transport subsidies for students on Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS): Students who travel to and from school via public transport will be provided S$120 in transport credits per annum. For students in primary school who take the school bus, the FAS will cover 50% of regular bus fare. The FAS for students in Government-funded SPED schools will be similarly enhanced to provide S$120 in transport credits per annum for those taking public transport.
- Raised income eligibility criteria for Edusave Merit Bursary: Income criterion for Edusave Merit Bursary raised to gross household income of not more than S$6,000 per month, up from S$5,000. The per capita household income criterion, meant to recognise that larger families often have larger financial needs, will also be raised to not more than S$1,500 per month, up from the current S$1,250 per month.
- Top-ups for Edusave and Post-Secondary Education Accounts (PSEA): There will be a S$150 top-up to the Edusave account of each Singapore Citizen student, aged 7 to 16 and up to S$500 top-up to the PSEA of each Singapore Citizens aged 17 to 20.
- Increase in annual school grants: More annual grants with school-based financial assistance increased to S$11m from S$5m, for three years (2015 to 2017).
- Launch of SG50 giving: SG50 will provide funds to enable students to support meaningful causes in the community and partner Institutions of Public Character (IPCs).
- More school-based student care centres (SCCs) in primary schools: Over the last four years, MOE has been expanding the number of school-based SCCs. To meet the rising needs, 20 more school-based SCCs are targeted to be set up in 2015, bringing the total to 120.
- Enhancement to Mother Tongue language (MTL) and learning: The 2015 Primary School MTL curriculum will strengthen interaction skills and place greater emphasis on spoken and written interaction skills to develop students’ communication skills.
- Expansion of School-based Dyslexia Remediation (SDR) Programme: The SDR programme will further expand to 60 more primary schools in 2015. It will be made available to all primary schools in 2016.
- The Special Education Needs (SEN) Support Offices in Institute of Higher Learning will support all SEN students in ITE, polytechnics and publicly-funded universities to access education, have a meaningful schooling experience and be prepared for future employment.
- Post-secondary education institutions (PSEIs) appointed sector coordinators for 17 growth sectors to support SkillsFuture and drive industry engagement. Students will benefit from strengthened linkages between the PSEIs and employers through internships, curriculum development and industry projects. Find out more here.
- Launch skills-based modular courses in 2nd Quarter of 2015: 200 skills-based modular courses in universities and more than 100 modular courses at the diploma and post-diploma levels will be launched in the second half of 2015. Singapore Citizens (SCs) can tap on the new SkillsFuture Credit, which will be given to all SCs aged 25 and above from 2016.
- SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme is a work-study programme that will give fresh graduates from polytechnics and ITE a career head start and opportunities to acquire relevant work experience and skills.
- Enhanced internships in early childhood care and education courses: The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) will introduce a new Early Childhood Capability Grant to support child care centres and kindergartens that host enhanced internships for students from the full-time Early Childhood Care and Education courses (ECCE) at the polytechnics and ITE. Enhancements in these internships will better support structured learning at the workplace, and will be progressively introduced in the full-time ECCE courses in the polytechnics and ITE from September 2015.
- COMPASS-PSG Mentoring Scheme to match Parent Support Groups (PSG) in schools with more experienced PSG mentors for better support.
Source: https://schoolbag.sg/story/moe-budget-2015-in-a-nutshell-15-things-to-look-forward-to