ECONOMIC COSTS OF THE DECISION
“The annual cost is about $14,000 for each pre-tertiary scholarship and between $18,000 to $25,000 for each undergraduate scholarship.”
MINIMAL ESTIMATED annual cost of scholars = 30.55 million SGD.
IMPLICIT Opportunity cost of the ‘tax-payers’ money.
WHY THE NEED FOR ‘FOREIGN SCHOLARS’ ?
Falling birth rates due to an increase in the number of working women has reduced growth of Singapore’s domestic human capital.
Definition of Birth rate: This entry gives the average annual number of births during a year per 1,000 persons in the population at midyear; also known as crude birth rate. The birth rate is usually the dominant factor in determining the rate of population growth. It depends on both the level of fertility and the age structure of the population.
An investment in human capital.
EDUCATION TOURISM
Foreign scholars fill the demographic ‘gap’
‘800 pre-tertiary and 900 undergraduate international students (IS) are offered scholarships annually’
THE ECONOMIC BENEFIT
Undergraduate scholarships come with a 3 to 5 year working bond.
THE MOE says,” More than 8 in 10 scholars have been working in Singapore and are contributing to our economy”
This increases the ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ of Singapore’s ‘labour force’.
Increased talent pool and competition ‘job market’ which attracts foreign companies to Singapore.