Prevalence of Co-payment Activities in Schools

Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Education (Schools) (a) whether the Ministry monitors the number of student activities in schools that involve co-payment by students; and (b) of such activities, what proportion is (i) compulsory, (ii) on an opt-out basis and (iii) on an opt-in basis but with 50% or more of eligible students participating.

Mr Speaker, to enhance the learning experience of our students, our schools have discretion to go beyond the core curriculum to provide richer learning experiences for different segments of students. We do not actively monitor whether such activities involve co-payment from students, nor do we stop schools from making collections for these activities, as we believe that families should play a part in supporting their children in education as part of their familial responsibility.

However, we regularly remind schools that such payments should not be excessive and should be affordable to parents. Students can also opt to pay for these activities using their Edusave accounts. For students from less advantaged backgrounds, schools can further subsidise or even fully pay the cost of their participation using specific funds provided by the Ministry of Education (MOE), such as the School-based Financial Assistance Grant and the Opportunity Fund. Most importantly, no Singaporean student will be deprived of an educational opportunity because of his or her family's financial circumstances.

I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for her answer. Would the Ministry, at some point, as part of the ongoing review of students' socio-economic circumstances, consider conducting such a study in schools, so as to see if students may inadvertently be discouraged from such activities by perceptions that the activities might not be accessible?

I want to thank the Member Dr Tan Wu Meng for the supplementary question. I also want to take the opportunity to assure the House that schools are sufficiently resourced to run quality programmes. Our staff and teachers in schools are well-trained to observe and, in a way, sensitively, identify students' well-being and, based on their attendance and attention span, whether there are any issues troubling them.

I mentioned briefly that there are two funds that the schools can tap on – the Financial Assistance Grant and also the Opportunity Fund. The staff in the school will be able to tap on these funds to help the students whether to make the co-payment, if required, or tap on the Financial Assistance Grant to pay for textbooks, uniforms and so on. All these will be done very sensitively.

Just to give an update, in the last two years, 60% of the Opportunity Funds are used to pay for students' additional learning opportunities. So, I really want to assure the Member and the House that no Singaporean student will be denied access to quality education because of their families' financial circumstances.