Singapore universities make 2,000 extra undergrad offers amid pandemic

Singapore

LOCAL universities will take in Singaporean undergraduates whose overseas study plans were thrown into disarray by Covid-19, the Education Ministry (MOE) said on Monday.

Some 2,000 extra offers were made to an unspecified number of fresh school-leavers, which are expected to bump up this year's autonomous university cohort participation rate from 40 per cent to up to 42 per cent.

This means that just over four in every 10 students in this cohort will get to read for a degree in one of the six local publicly-funded universities, after the close of the extended university admissions exercise in May.

Meanwhile, public universities are also reviewing bids by Singaporeans who had been studying abroad but now want to transfer schools.

The MOE said that "a small number of such applications" have been made, but did not give a specific figure. These applications are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

"The (autonomous universities) are prepared to take in as many of these transfer cases as they can accommodate - including for courses such as medicine - and subject to applicants meeting the admission criteria," it added in its statement.

Otherwise, Singaporeans who plan to resume overseas studies can also still sign up for short modular courses or apply to enrol for one semester at universities here.

"Taken together, MOE hopes that these measures will provide useful options for students who are now reassessing their plans to study overseas due to Covid-19," said the MOE.

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