Fees and Drop-out Rates for Continuing Education Courses

Ms Lee Li Lian asked the Minister for Education, for Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses and National Institute of Technical Education Certificate (Nitec) and Higher Nitec courses (a) what are the current subsidised and full module fees for Singapore citizens; (b) since 2012, what is the trend of drop-out rates and the percentage of Singaporean students who drop out because they are charged full fees for repeating modules; and (c) whether the subsidies can be reduced instead of being withdrawn completely for repeating modules so as not to discourage learners.

The tuition fees for the full-time Nitec and Higher Nitec courses are charged on a semester basis. For Academic Year (AY) 2014, the full tuition fees before Government subsidy are $5,175 per semester for Nitec, and $9,325 per semester for Higher Nitec. Singaporean students pay a small fraction of the tuition fees – $155 per semester for Nitec, and $280 per

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semester for Higher Nitec.

On the other hand, the CET programmes offered at the polytechnics and ITE are conducted on a modular certificate basis, where a full CET programme is delivered in bite-sized modules to make it more manageable for adult learners to upgrade and attain their full CET qualification. The full fees before Government subsidy for such modules range between $1,140 and $3,400 per modular certificate for a CET programme at ITE and the polytechnics, depending on the level of study. However, after netting off the Government subsidy, the modular certificate fees payable by Singaporean students are much lower – between $105 and $1,000 per modular certificate. We review the fees regularly to ensure that they remain affordable for Singaporeans.

Drop-out rates for the full-time Nitec and Higher Nitec programmes have improved significantly from about 35% in the 1990s to less than 20% today. Students are not likely to drop out because of high fees as MOE provides subsidies for students who need to repeat subjects for up to an additional year beyond the normal course duration of two years. ITE students who need financial assistance can also tap on Government bursaries. MOE has announced that from AY2014, these bursaries would be enhanced significantly, with increases in the bursary quanta, as well as changes to the income eligibility criteria, which would allow more students to qualify. With these changes, full-time ITE students can receive up to $1,200 per annum, depending on their household income, which is more than sufficient to cover the fees payable. Financial assistance will likewise be extended for up to an additional year beyond normal course duration for eligible students who need to repeat subjects.

Besides MOE subsidies and financial assistance, ITE has also introduced several strategies to help students complete their course of study successfully, such as supporting students with weak academic foundation and providing special assistance to those who are at risk of dropping out.

The polytechnic and ITE CET programmes are modular in nature, meaning that trainees have the flexibility to pause and continue their studies at a later date, within the maximum candidature period for the programme. As the modular CET framework was introduced only in 2012, it is too early to compute programme-level drop-out rates, but we can look at the completion rates at modular level to give an indication. For the AY2012, the average completion rate for polytechnic CET modules is about 87%.

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