Debated in Parliament on 12 Nov 2013.
Mr Baey Yam Keng asked the Minister for Defence (a) if he can provide the reasons why the provision for National Service disruption does not apply to National Servicemen enrolling in SUTD, SIT, UniSIM, LASALLE College of the Arts and NAFA; and (b) whether the policy can be reviewed.
Let me address Mr Baey's question in two parts. First, in general, when disruption is granted and then specifically, in terms of the institutions he has asked about.
Mdm Speaker, when we disrupt National Servicemen (NSFs) from their training, it affects the operational readiness of the units that they come from. So, we grant disruption on a selected basis. Specifically to Mr Baey's questions, it is on the basis of equity. This means if his classmates or his peers were called up earlier in that year, and they can go to university in a particular year, the person in question who is called up in later cohorts, he will be disrupted so that he can go into the university in the same year as his peers. It is a fair basis in which we grant disruption.
Now, on specific institutions, we currently allow NS disruption for servicemen to pursue full-time degrees at institutions that are funded by MOE or confer their own degrees. These include full-time degree programmes at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), LASALLE College of the Arts and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA). It will also include the Singapore Institute of Management University (UniSIM) when it begins conferring its own full-time degrees from 2014 onwards.
I would like to ask the Minister to clarify the courses that are eligible for disruption. They must be fully funded by Government and/or conferred by the universities themselves. Is it an "and/or" criterion? I was reading the MINDEF's website that disruption is only given to students or NSFs enrolled in courses conducted by institutions that confer their own qualifications. I know that SIT has some courses which are offered in partnership with overseas universities which then confer their degrees. Would students or NSFs enrolled in these courses be eligible for disruption? And whether amongst these five tertiary institutions, are there any courses that do not allow the students to be disrupted for any reason?
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We grant disruption when they are eligible for NS servicemen into institutions where they are pursuing full-time degrees that, as Mr Baey said, are funded by MOE, or confer their own degrees. This would include SIT. I am not aware of any specific courses for which we do not grant disruption, but if he can file a specific Parliamentary Question or if he knows of a particular case, I would be happy to respond to him.
PAPERCUTS