More Help for FTrash To Replace Sporns

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>More help for foreign students to adapt here
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->THE local universities are studying how they can better assist foreign students who need help adapting to campuses here, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen said yesterday.
He disclosed this when asked by Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) whether more help and care should be made available for foreign students studying here.
She highlighted the recent cases of two foreign students - an undergraduate and a recent graduate - who, she said, had apparently committed suicide.
Indonesian student David Widjaja, 21, fell to his death at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) earlier this month. Just days later, NTU Chinese graduate Zhou Zheng, 24, was found dead in his room on campus.
Mrs Teo had asked whether a foreign student's ability to adapt here should be included as part of the admission criteria to the local universities.
Responding, Dr Ng said that the admission criteria for foreign students include academic results, English proficiency levels and - for some courses - interviews and entrance tests.
As there is also a cap on the number of foreign students - 20 per cent of a university's student intake - the admission criteria for them are higher than for local students, he noted.
News of the two tragic incidents had saddened him, but Dr Ng said he did not sense 'that compared to local students, there is a higher incidence of dropouts or suicides or misadventures'.
Both local and foreign students have easy access to help if they need it, he said.
'These incidents serve as an impetus for our management to relook the systems to see how they can improve their contact points for student affairs, for student well-being and to see how they can improve the access to help when someone feels (the need) for it,' Dr Ng added.
'But I know that the management at the universities, because of these incidents, are relooking and have relooked their system to see how they can be beefed up.' AARON LOW

 

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Just 3% of scholarships revoked each year
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Termination last resort and help for students available, says minister </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Amelia Tan
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->ONLY 3 per cent of scholarships administered by either the universities or the Government have been terminated each year.
Education Minister Ng Eng Hen, who disclosed this in a written reply to a parliamentary question, said this figure has held steady for the past decade.
Scholarships for undergraduates are terminated only as a last resort, he added.
He was responding to Dr Ong Seh Hong (Marine Parade GRC), who asked about the number of undergraduates who lost their scholarships over the last 10 years, and about the help that has been given to them to cope psychologically and financially.
The issue of scholarship terminations came under the spotlight earlier this month when Nanyang Technological University (NTU) undergraduate David Widjaja fell to his death on campus.
The 21-year-old Indonesian held an Asean Scholarship which was revoked last month. The Asean Scholarship, given by the Singapore Government to students in the region, is meant for study at secondary schools, junior colleges and universities here.
The Asean Scholarship for university students pays for all of the students' tuition fees and grants them annual stipends.
If scholarships are revoked, students are not expected to pay a penalty but they have to pick up the tab for the remaining portions of their courses.
Dr Ng and Dr Ong both made no reference to the incident at NTU.
In his written reply, which was released yesterday, Dr Ng said each university and scholarship awarding agency has its own measures to support their scholars.
For example, the Public Service Commission and Ministry of Education Teaching Scholarships Unit have dedicated scholarship officers who contact overseas and local scholars regularly to provide support and guidance.
Scholars can also get support from peers through a 'buddy system' which pairs them up with senior scholars.
Dr Ng said agencies and universities reach out to scholars whose grades are not up to par by providing advice and counselling. Student counsellors are also trained to look out for behavioural changes and will refer students for counselling, if necessary.
He added: 'Scholarships are only terminated as a last resort. For the small number who do lose their scholarships, our universities offer alternative financial support such as study loans and bursaries.'
He said that universities had counsellors who worked with doctors, psychiatrists and faculty members to provide pastoral care and support to all students in need.
Universities also have programmes to help their international students settle in and adjust to life here.
The international student centres at universities also organise activities such as orientation programmes, international fairs and concerts to help such students adjust to life in Singapore and feel at home. [email protected]