No President Scholarship in Engineering Since 2006 Cos Not Lucrative

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

As expected, the $$$ FAP Traitor minister refused to answer the question directly and tried to obfuscate it with other statistics.

The Ministry of Education has been working closely with the Manpower ministry to ensure the number of engineering graduates are meeting the engineering industry’s demand, assures DPM Teo Chee Hean.

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SINGAPORE: While no President Scholar has applied to major in engineering since 2006, the Public Service awarded more than 400 scholarships for the engineering courses between 2009 and 2013, revealed Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in Parliament on Wednesday (Oct 8). He added more than 1,200 scholarships were also awarded for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), translating to about four in ten of all Public Service scholarships awarded.

He said this in in a written reply to Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, who had asked if it was a concern that no President Scholar has applied to major in engineering since 2006, and if any action has been taken to rectify the situation, or if this trend will result in a shortage of engineers.

Many of these Public Service Commission (PSC) scholarship holders for engineering have been matched with agencies including the Land Transport Authority, HDB, and the Defence Science and Technology Agency, said Mr Teo. Of the 80 to 90 PSC scholarship recipients every year, one quarter pursued STEM courses in 2013 while one fifth did so in 2014, he added.

Mr Teo said the Public Service will continue to recruit officers in a variety of fields to serve in the different sectors. For engineering, the government will also be developing career paths to attract and retain good engineers, he added.

PROMOTING ENGINEERING EDUCATION

The Government has been promoting engineering education through various programmes and outreach strategies to ignite students’ interest to pursue STEM-related courses and a career in the STEM-related industries, said Mr Teo.

He elaborated that in 2013, a total of 8,500 students entered STEM-related degree courses, including 5,700 students who entered courses in Engineering Sciences and Information Technology. He allayed fears that the apparent lack of interest among top scholars to study engineering will result in a shortage of engineers, as local autonomous universities such as the Singapore Institute of Technology and Singapore University of Technology and Design have continued to increase their intake of engineering students.
The Ministry of Education has been working closely with the Manpower Ministry to ensure a steady flow of graduates from local universities are meeting the engineering industry’s demand, Mr Teo said. The plan to build a new Science Centre in Jurong is also part of the strategy to arouse the interests of students in science and technology, added Mr Teo.


- CNA/xk


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