By Rachel Chan

THE Government is introducing measures to further differentiate between Singapore citizens, permanent residents (PRs) and foreigners in schools.

Citizens bent on getting their children into popular schools will get a leg up in the Primary 1 registration exercise.

From next year, citizens will get two ballot slips instead of the usual one during balloting exercises, which are held when the number of applications outstrips that of vacancies in schools.

Non-citizens will soon also have to pay more to attend primary schools, secondary schools, junior colleges and centralised institutes here.

The fee hikes, ranging from $216 to $2,400 per year, will be spread over two years from 2011, to cushion the blow on existing students.

By 2012, PRs will have to pay 220 to 250 per cent more than their current fees, while foreign students from non-Asean countries would have to pay more than twice their comparatively higher current fees.

These measures come after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in September that the Government would further sharpen the differentiation between Singapore citizens, PRs and foreigners.

He had pledged to 'treat visitors well, but citizens better' in December 2006. Annual school fees for non-citizens from primary to tertiary levels were then raised, from $6 for primary school in 2007 and last year to up to $2,450 for tertiary level from last year.

Last year, PRs also saw their hospital-bill subsidies cut by 10 percentage points.

But the latest move heralds the most drastic school-fee hike since then.

Minister for Education Ng Eng Hen said yesterday that the Ministry of Education (MOE) was responding to concerns from Singaporean parents that foreigners and PRs were crowding their children out of schools here.

He said that the ministry still wants foreign students and PRs in schools here, to challenge and motivate Singaporean students.

'And we do also want PRs to have some privileges when it comes to entering our schools, because PRs become citizens as well, and if you don't allow their children to enter good schools, they might not want to take up permanent residency or become citizens later on.

'So, there's a delicate balance we have to find, but we've decided that we want to give additional privileges to Singapore citizens,' he said.

The proportion of PRs and foreign students is not expected to change, he said. Of children in schools from primary to junior-college and centralised institute levels, PRs comprise 8 per cent, and foreign students, 4 per cent.

Singaporean full-time housewife Siti Haslinda Putri, 38, lauds the change in the Primary 1 registration exercise.

'Balloting is a stressful time for parents. So I'm pleased to learn that our chances have been improved. This means that the Government and MOE have heard our pleas and I am grateful for that,' said the mother of two primary-school girls.

Madam Iris Lee, 39, a PR from Sabah, Malaysia, whose six-year-old daughter will start Primary 1 next year, has no issues with sending her to a less sought-after school, but cried foul at the increased school fees.

'Our PR benefits are being eroded. Not every PR earns high wages and citizens seem to have the misconception that PRs enjoy the same benefits as them.

'But the truth is, we don't, and our lives are just as stressful as the next Singaporean. In comparison to a country like Australia, which offers free public education, Singapore pales in attractiveness to PRs.'

Mrs Clara Lim-Tan, principal of CHIJ Kellock, said: 'I don't think that the new measures will deter non-Singaporeans from applying for admission to a local school, if parents value and desire a Singapore-brand education for their children.

'However, expectations will have to be managed, if it is about choosing a particular school that clearly has a historic trend of receiving more applicants than places available.'

Speaking after a visit to Jalan Kayu yesterday, Dr Ng said: 'The higher fees are just to appropriately reflect that Singapore citizens will get higher subsidies compared to PRs and international students. I think that's sensible and appropriate.

'And as the cost of education goes up, we take that PRs and international students should bear some of that fee, but we're also careful to make sure that they're still competitive.'

Even after the hikes, school fees are still 'a fraction of' those charged by international schools, he added.

When asked if this would become an incentive for PRs to convert their status to become citizens, he said: 'I hope so. I think that if PRs realise that there are additional benefits given to Singapore citizens, we'll welcome them to be citizens.'

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