Ensuring Campus Transport and Food Court Services in Local Universities are Sufficient for Students

10 Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Education whether the Ministry will consider implementing guidelines for local universities to ensure that campus transport and food court services are sufficient for students’ needs and well-being, in view of the recent overcrowding issues.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education (Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, to care for the needs and well-being of students and staff, the autonomous universities (AUs) have implemented various measures to manage visitor numbers and access. These include prioritising campus transport and food court access for students and staff during peak hours and requiring advance registration before allowing tour groups on campus. AUs will continue to monitor the situation and adjust their measures accordingly.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for his answer. I just have three supplementary questions, Mr Speaker. I have received feedback from some university students and there have been recent reports of daily campus bus problems, issues of maintenance of toilets and other services, and also overcrowding of canteens and food courts in the AUs. I am aware that the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have taken measures to address those issues. But I have three supplementary questions to follow up from that.

First, whether the Ministry of Education (MOE), on a regular basis, do look carefully at the local tertiary students' basic welfare, safety and day-to-day logistics, even as there are autonomous entities involved here. Second, whether MOE thinks that the AUs' measures are adequate and should MOE set guidelines to ensure AUs are able to handle the overcrowding issues that we are facing over the past few months; or even if they have improved, whether it can be sustained. And lastly, with regard to some of the measures, can the Senior Parliamentary Secretary share how some of these tour operators who are visiting the AUs can be better managed, going forward?

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. With regard to his first question, MOE meets regularly with the AUs at various platforms, including at the Ministerial level. MOE also expects these AUs as publicly funded institutions to provide a conducive learning environment for students as part of their mission to provide quality education. AUs are given the space and autonomy to manage the day-to-day logistics and welfare of the students. But in this case, MOE will intervene as necessary.

With regard to the Member's second question, the AUs do have different campus contexts and also very different visitor profiles and are thus best placed to determine the right visitor management policies on their own needs, on their own ground. NTU and NUS have taken appropriate measures to address these issues when they arise.

For example, responding to an increase in tourists, NUS has introduced enhanced measures in August and more recently, in September and October as well, during key periods. For NTU, they have enforced designated paths and schedules for tourists in order to prioritise the needs and well-being of students and staff.

With regard to tour operators, currently the AUs are working closely with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) to communicate any new policy and measures that are being implemented in schools. And these are communicated to the travel agents and operators.

Just a reminder that all operators are to respect the universities as places of teaching and learning, and to ensure that they do not disrupt students' learning and welfare and campus operations as a whole.

Mr Speaker: Mr Saktiandi Supaat. A quick one.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: Thank you, Mr Speaker. I just want to ask the Senior Parliamentary Secretary, again, whether he can assure the university students about the bus overcrowding situation, because for the feeder bus services, when there is heavy rain, there is a bit of concern about the overcrowding issues, not just from the tours that are visiting the universities, but also in terms of the frequency of the bus services. Whether that can be improved, going forward, for both AUs and other AUs in Singapore as well.

Mr Shawn Huang Wei Zhong: I thank the Member for the follow-up supplementary question. Yes, we are monitoring the situation and working closely with the AUs. In fact, the AUs are working closely with and getting feedback from the student leaders on the ground as well, and will put in measures as needed.