A top-rate education for all, and an emphasis on the quality of all schools, said Singapore's Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally 2007 last month.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) says that $150 million will be invested over the next five years to help schools achieve and be recognized for their niches of excellence.

With this boost to current funding schemes, MOE aims to help at least half of all schools, or around 180 of them, to develop their peaks of excellence by 2012. Currently only 112 schools are recognised and provided with additional funding.

"This will give all schools, and especially the neighbourhood schools, more opportunities to develop. In this way, opportunities are being provided to help children discover their interests and develop their own talents to the fullest, across the spectrum of schools," said MOE in an information sheet.

Since 2005, MOE has introduced funding schemes such as the Programme for School-Based Excellence (PSE) for primary schools and the Niche Programme Schools (NS) for secondary schools. Currently, only 37 primary schools and 20 secondary schools have benefited from the schemes.

With the additional funding, schools with emerging niches will be able to apply for a development grant, and those with recognised niches can apply for recurrent funding to help sustain their specialties.

More details will be announced later, but MOE says that "schools which develop innovative and sustainable plans that can bring about significant impact at the national level and beyond may also be given
additional funding on a case by case basis, over and above these existing schemes."

To help students from lower income families, MOE will introduce a new Independent Schools (IS) Bursary scheme in 2008 to enhance the existing Financial Assistance Scheme for Independent Schools (FAS-IS).

Under the current FAS-IS, which provides tiered financial assistance of 50 per cent to 100 per cent of IS fees, the upper income limit is $3,750 (Gross Monthly Household Income). Recipients eligible for 100 per cent fee subsidy will also be given free textbooks at secondary level.

The new IS scheme provides a higher level of financial assistance for students from lower income families who gain admission to the ISs, as well as extending financial assistance to students from middle-income families.

Students from households with gross monthly income up to $7,200 can qualify for the IS Bursary if they gain admission into an IS, an increase from the current limit of $3,750. This will cover students from within the bottom 80 per cent of households, up from the bottom 50 per cent of households currently.

MOE will also revise the Edusave Entrance Scholarships for Independent Schools (EESIS) to a standard quantum of $2,400 per annum. The scheme, which is awarded to the top one-third of each cohort of students who enter the ISs, offers a varying level of subsidy that covers the difference between fees in each IS and those in government schools.

The change will apply to Secondary One students entering Independent Schools in 2008.

EESIS recipients who qualify for financial assistance under the IS Bursary will continue to obtain such support on top of their EESIS awards.

The new EESIS of $2400, together with the enhanced financial assistance for students from both lower and middle income families, will ensure that no student from the bottom 80 per cent of households will have to pay more as a result of the new EESIS quantum.

Current recipients of the EESIS who are still studying in an Independent School will not be affected.