Criteria for Disbursement of Opportunity Fund Grant to Schools

14 Ms Rahayu Mahzam asked the Acting Minister for Education (Schools) (a) what are the criteria for the disbursement of the Opportunity Fund Grant to schools, including the polytechnics; (b) what type of co-curricular activities are covered by this Fund; and (c) to date, what is the number of students who have benefited from this Fund.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Acting Ministers for Education (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Acting Minister for Education (Schools)): Mdm Speaker, the Opportunity Fund Scheme was introduced in 2006 to increase enrichment opportunities for Singapore Citizen students from lower-income households. The Scheme seeks to create opportunities for such students to access learning opportunities which they would otherwise miss out on due to their family circumstances.

Initially, the Opportunity Fund was disbursed to Government and Government-aided schools, junior colleges and centralised institutes, independent schools, Ministry of Education (MOE)-supported special education schools, and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). It was subsequently extended to the polytechnics in 2013.

The amount of Opportunity Fund disbursed to the schools is based on the total number of students and the percentage of MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) recipients in the respective schools. This top-up rate ensures that schools with larger numbers of needy students are provided with more funds to help these students.

On average, a primary school receives about $30,000, whilst a secondary school receives about $44,000. As explained earlier, the grant will be higher if the school has a relatively higher proportion of FAS recipients. The total amount of Opportunity Fund disbursed to the schools is about $16 million a year.

Similarly, the grant to ITE and polytechnics is determined by the number of students and FAS profiles. The total amount disbursed is about $2 million for ITE and about $5.5 million for the five polytechnics.

The three broad areas of usage for the Opportunity Fund are:

(a) overseas trips, such as visits and exchange programmes with schools overseas;

(b) enrichment programmes, such as leadership camps and creative arts workshops; and

(c) access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), such as helping needy students to own personal computers under the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA)'s NEU PC PLUS Programme.

Beyond these three broad areas, MOE does not specify the programmes for which the Opportunity Fund can be used. Schools and institutions have the flexibility to identify these programmes and decide on which students can benefit, taking into account the profile of their students.

The Opportunity Fund has been welcomed and well-used by schools and institutions. Students, particularly those on FAS, are able to benefit from the enrichment programmes and other areas supported by Opportunity Fund. On average, about 67,000 students benefit from the scheme each year.

Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong): I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. In light of the fact that Opportunity Fund is meant to assist students from needy families, the intent is really just to increase social mobility.

Can I just check how these funds are disbursed in the schools? Do the students apply or the schools assign the amounts that are given to the students? What is the utilisation rate by the schools of this Fund?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: I thank the Member for the question. Madam, the Opportunity Fund is disbursed to the schools and the Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) on a three-year cycle. It is usually disbursed to them upfront and adjusted annually to take into consideration the changes in Singapore Citizen enrolment numbers and their FAS profile for each year, if applicable. The current three-year cycle is from 2016-2018. So, with regard to the utilisation rate for the past cycle, which was from 2013-2015, it was about 80% of the amount disbursed to all institutions.