SCHOOL FINANCIAL INSTRUCTION MANUAL Version: 3.0

MOE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME

Overview

  1. The MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)is to help needySingaporeanstudents pay essential school expenses and to ensure that no Singaporean child will be denied an education due to financial reasons. Students who are eligible for the MOE FAS have to apply using the prescribed MOE FAS application form which is available from the school or can be downloaded from the MOE website. Applications may be submitted at any time during the year. Schools are to process the applications promptly and automatically consider the applicants for school-based FAS if they do not meet the criteria for MOE FAS.

Enhanced Processes

  1. Starting from the application exercise for 2013, MOE has implemented the following enhancements:
  1. Family-centric application process
  1. Parents with children studying in different government or government-aided schools (GGAS, which includes junior colleges/centralised institute) need to complete only one application form for all the school-going Singaporean children and submit it to the school of any child. The school which receives the application form will process the application. If the application meets the MOE FAS income criterion, all the children indicated in the form will be granted the MOE FAS. The school will inform parents of the outcome via a letter and update the MOE FAS grant in iBENS for the student and all the siblings stated in the application form. The letter templates to inform parents of the outcome are at Appendix 1 & 2.
  1. Application for MOE FAS by Primary 6 Students going to Secondary 1
  1. Primary 6 students who do not have any sibling in the other GGAS can apply for MOE FAS at their primary school when it is opened for application for the following year. The primary school will process the application and inform the parents of the outcome via a letter. If the application is approved, the school will update the MOE FAS grant to the student in iBENS. The letter templates to inform parents of the outcome are at Appendix 3 & 4.
  1. After the release of the posting results, and the student is posted to a government or government-aided secondary school, the school will generate the report ‘List of Secondary 1 pupils who have been granted <MOE FAS (SC)> by their primary schools’ in iBENS (Subsidy Management  Reports) for follow-up action to provide free textbooks and school attire to the MOE FAS recipients.
  1. If the student is posted to NUS High School of Maths & Science or the School of Science and Technology or any independent school, the student will submit the approval notification letter issued by the primary school to the school which he/she is posted to so that he/she can be granted full waiver of school fees in the independent school under the Independent School Bursary Scheme (MOE ISB Scheme).
  1. However, if he/she is posted to a specialised independent school which is not covered by the MOE ISB Scheme (i.e. Singapore Sports School or School of The Arts), or a specialised school (i.e. Northlight School, Assumption Pathway School or Crest Secondary School), he/she will have to re-apply for FAS as these schools have their own schemes (school-based or CDC/CCC Bursaries) to provide financial assistance to students.
  1. Nonetheless, for PSLE students posted to the specialised schools, MOE/FDD will inform the specialised schools if they had MOE FAS applications already approved by their primary schools. The specialised schools may use the approval letter issued by the primary school to support granting of school-based FAS for new secondary one students without requiring them to submit fresh applications if the income limit for their school-based FAS is not lower than those for MOE FAS.
  1. For unsuccessful applications, the school is to provide a copy of the completed application form and supporting documents to the parents and advise them to approach the respective school directly for school-based financial assistance.
  1. If a student is transferred to another government or government-aided school in the course of the year, he will continue to enjoy the MOE FAS benefits at the new school till the end of the year. No action is required by the receiving school to update in iBENS.

Edusave SO for 2nd tier Miscellaneous Fees

  1. As a general principle, all MOE FAS recipients should use their Edusave accounts to pay the 2nd tier miscellaneous fees and AS fees, if applicable, so that they do not have to pay any fees in cash for the rest of the year. Schools are to advise MOE FAS recipients to establish the Edusave SO for fee deduction, if they have not done so. Schools are advised to print the iBENS report “List of Active Pupils Under Subsidy Scheme – MOE FAS (SC)” to identify MOE FAS recipients who do not have Edusave SO, and to give them the Edusave SO form and advise them to return the signed form to the school immediately.

Benefits Received By MOE FAS Recipients

  1. The benefits received by MOE FAS recipients are:

Item / Academic Level
Primary / Secondary / Pre-University
School Fee / Not Applicable / 100% Waived / 100% Waived
Standard Miscellaneous Fee / 100% Waived / 100% Waived / 100% Waived
Exam fee[1] / 75% waiver of National Examination Fees (100% waiver for pupils under MSF Public Assistance Scheme)
Textbooks[2] / Free textbooks / Free textbooks / Not Applicable
School attire[3] / Free school attire / Free school attire / Not Applicable
Bursary / Not Applicable / Not Applicable / $750

Eligibility Criteria For MOE FAS

  1. From March 2012, the eligibility criteria for MOE FAS are as follows:

(a)The family's Gross Household Income (GHI) does not exceed $2,500 per month; or

(b)The family’s Per Capita Income (PCI) does not exceed $625. PCI is computed based on GHI divided by the number of household members which include the student, his/her unmarried siblings, parents and grandparents living at the same address. Other relatives who are dependent on the family and live at the same residential address may be included on a case-by-case basis.

  1. Students from families who receive social welfare aid under the Ministry of Social and Family Development Public Assistance (MSFPA) Scheme and those who are residents in one of the welfare homes or organisations shown in AnnexA are automatically eligible for MOE FAS. They just need to submit the MOE FAS application form without having to complete Section 2 on “Information on Other Household Members”. Schools will verify that they are recipients of MSFPA or are residents of an approved home and indicate this information in the form.

Application Form and Step-By-Step Guide For Processing

  1. The MOE FAS application form to be submitted by parents can be obtained at this link here. The step-by-step guide for processing and approval of FAS is here.

Follow-Up Actions After FAS Approval

  1. Schools are to update the MOE FAS grants for successful applicants and their siblings, if applicable, in iBENS promptly for the waiver of school and standard miscellaneous fees to take effect. MOE FAS grant approved in iBENS by end-January will take effect from January because the fees for January are billed together with February fees in early-February. Thereafter, MOE FAS grant approved in iBENS by the end of a month will take effect in the next month and will be valid until December. For e.g. those approved by end-February will take effect in March. The list of students who have been granted MOE FAS in IBENS are listed in the iBENS report “Fee waived for pupils under subsidy scheme” which can be printed from 12th of each month.
  1. The MOE FAS has to be renewed annually subject to re-verification of household income, and household members if Per Capita Income basis is used. To ensure that students receive their free textbooks and school attire in good time, schools are encouraged to advise students to submit their MOE FAS applications in November and let them know the outcome by December. To facilitate the review, schools can print the “List of pupils with subsidy grant pending renewal – MOE FAS (SC)” from iBENS.
  1. The school which updates the MOE FAS grants to a student’s siblings in other schools will generate the report ‘MOE FAS (SC) granted to pupils in other schools’ which shows the details updated for verification and record. Similarly, the siblings’ schools will also be able to generate the report‘List of pupils granted MOE FAS (SC) by other schools’which shows their students who have been granted MOE FAS by other schools for follow-up action to provide free textbooks and school attire to the students.

Reaching Out To Potentially Needy Students

  1. Schools are advised to look out for students who are potentially in need of financial assistance and to assist them to apply for the MOE FAS if they are eligible. This could be done by reviewing the monthly Arrears Listing report“List of Active GIRO pupils with Outstanding Fees and Cash-Paying Pupils with Current Fee and Edusave Account Balances as at DD MMM YYY”which can be printed from iBENS from the 12th of each month to identify those with arrears but are not on any financial assistance scheme. Schools are advised to be mindful of the sensitivity of such students and to be discrete and maintain confidentiality when dealing with them to safeguard their dignity.
  1. MOE HQ has worked with MSF to reach out to parents of children who are currently receiving financial assistance for kindergarten fees and have registered for admission to Primary 1 in the following year. In late Oct/early Nov, MOE HQ will send a personalised letter with an application form enclosed informing them about MOE and school-based FAS and advise them to submit the completed form to the schools if they require financial assistance.

Arrangements for The Provision of Various Benefits

  1. MOE HQ will bear the subsidy for school fee, standard miscellaneous fee and examination fees, the cost of free textbooks and school attire to MOE FAS recipients at primary/secondary leveland the bursary payable to MOE FAS recipients at pre-university level. Successful MOE FAS applicants may also apply for a new computer at a subsidised price under the NEU PC Plus Programme administered by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) if their families have not benefited from this programme in the last 4 years. For primary and secondary level students granted MOE FAS, the school has to arrange to purchase textbooks and school attire for those who need. For those at pre-university level, the JC or MI has to ensure that they have a GIRO bank account. The details are below.
  1. Waiver of School and Standard Miscellaneous Fees
  1. iBENS will auto-waive the school and standard miscellaneous fees for MOE FAS recipients when generating the monthly fee bills. The standard miscellaneous fees waived will be subsidised by MOE HQ and paid to the School Operating Fund.
  1. With the waiver of school and standard miscellaneous fees, and Edusave accounts used to pay the 2nd tier miscellaneous fee and AS fee, if applicable, FAS recipients will not need to pay any monthly fees in cash.
  1. Subsidy for National Examination Fees
  1. MOE will send data of MOE FAS recipients approved as at the end of each month to SEAB. SEAB will bill MOE FAS recipients who are sitting for national examinations the balance of the exam fees payable. In line with the current policy of not reimbursing fees already paid, no refund will be given to those who have already paid their examination fees. However, if they have outstanding examination fees for the current year, waiver will be given, subject to the cap of 75% of the total fees payable.
  1. Free Textbooks and School Attire for primary and secondary levels
  1. Free textbooks and school attire are to be provided on a need basis. Free textbooks include workbooks, writing materials, art and craft materials and stationery items shown in the school booklist, and a calculator for Secondary 1 students.

- Schools are to arrange with suppliers to provide the items to MOE FAS recipients and settle the invoices from the suppliers via IFAAS. Payments for free textbooks should be charged to the IFAAS expenditure account “FAS Free Textbooks Clearing Account” and those for free school attire should be charged to “FAS Free School Attire Clearing Account”.

- For the shoes to be provided to MOE FAS recipients, schools should not buy costly branded shoes. As a general guide, the current price for a pair of school shoes of acceptable quality is about $20 to $30.

- For those granted MOE FAS in the course of the year, there will be no reimbursement to MOE FAS recipients for school attire items or textbooks bought by them.

  1. Bursary for Pre-University level MOE FAS recipients

The bursary will be paid direct to their GIRO bank account for fee payments if they have one. If the existing GIRO bank account does not belong to the student or his/her parents, the owner of the GIRO account can submit a GIRO Termination Order to terminate that account, and the student submit a new GIRO Standing Order to authorise a new GIRO bank account. JC/MI is to advise all MOE FAS recipients to establish a GIRO SO if they do not have one so that all other payments due to them from their schools can be paid direct to the GIRO bank account.

For exceptional handling, if a recipient does not want to establish a GIRO SO, he/she will need to complete the School IBG Form for Bursary and Refund to Pupils so that the bursary can be paid direct to his/her designated bank account. A copy of the School IBG Form for Bursary and Refund to Pupils can be downloaded from the MOE Intranet. The school is to forward the form to MOE FDD/FSOB which will create a vendor record in the student’s name in iFAAS. iBENS will then pay the bursary to the student’s bank account via iFAAS.

  1. Application for Computer Under IDA’s NEU PC Plus Programme

The NEU PC Plus Programme administered by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) offers students from low income households the opportunity to own a new computer at a subsidised price. MOE has collaborated with IDA to reach out to potential beneficiaries of the NEU PC Plus Programme, by including an item in the MOE FAS application form for parents to indicate whether they wish to apply for a computer under the programme if they had not benefited from the programme in the last 4 years. For those who wish to apply and their application for MOE FAS is approved, the school will give them thesimplified IDA form for the NEU PC Plus Programme to complete and help them send to the relevant lead agency to process.

Write-Off of Cross-Academic Level Arrears

  1. To provide an incentive for schools to look out for potentially needy students and render financial assistance promptly, MOE will write-off the arrears which the student carries forward from his previous academic level if he does not have any arrears in his current level. That means, when a student in a secondary school is granted MOE FAS, the arrears which he incurred at his primary school will be written-off if he does not have any outstanding fees incurred at the secondary level. If the student has some arrears at the secondary level, the school is encouraged to use their SAC/SMC fund to provide one-off subsidy for the outstanding secondary school fees so that the arrears carried forward from the primary level can be written-off. The same applies to secondary level students who are promoted to pre-university.
  1. The write-off for cross-academic arrears is handled automatically by the system during the monthly bill generation process. The write-off transaction will be shown in the students’ monthly bills.

Annex A

LIST OF WELFARE HOMES AND ORGANISATIONS FOR WHICH INMATES ARE ELIGIBLE FOR MOE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE SCHEME

S/No / Welfare Home / Organisation / Address
1 / AG Home / 6A, Mattar Road, S (387715)
2 / Boys’ Town / 624 Upper Bukit Timah Road, S(678117)
3 / Bukit Batok Hostel / 10 De Souza Avenue, S(599449)
4 / Canossaville Children’s Home / 1 Sallim Road, S(387621)
5 / Chen Su Lan Methodist Children Home / 202-210/A Serangoon Garden Way, S(556057)
6 / Children’s Aid Society / 503 Clementi Road, S(599488)
7 / Darul Ihsan Orphanage / 5 Mattar Road, S(387713)
8 / Darul Ihsan Lilbanat / 23 Wan Tho Ave, S(347552)
9 / DaySpring Residential Treatment Centre / 233 Turf Club Road, S(287983)
10 / HopeHouse Ltd / 490 East Coast Road, S(429058)
11 / Infant Jesus Centre, Clementi / Blk 442 Clementi Avenue 3, #03-99 S(120442)
12 / Jamiyah Children’s Home / 15 Guillemard Crescent S(399910)
13 / Marymount Centre / Ahuva Good Shepherd, 790 Thomson Road, S(298142)
14 / Muhammadiyah Welfare Home / 58 Bedok North Street 3, S(469624)
15 / Pertapis Children’s Home / 993B Yio Chu Kang Road, S(545676)
16 / Pertapis Centre for Women and Girls / 42 Surin Avenue, S(535638)
17 / Ramakrishna Mission Boys’ Home / 179 Bartley Road, S(593784)
18 / Residence @ St.George’s / 1 St. George’s Lane, S(328047)
19 / Salvation Army Gracehaven / 3 Lorong Napiri, S(547528)
20 / Salvation Army Haven / 350 Pasir Panjang Road, S(118692)
21 / Singapore Boys’ Hostel / 8 McNair Road, S(328517)
22 / Sunbeam Place / 28 Hong San Terrace, S(688247)
23 / The TENT (Teenagers Experience New Truth) / 1034 Upper Serangoon Road, S(534797)

Appendix 1