MOE needs to explain how it arrived at school fees

Besides the generic explanation that the Ministry of Education (MOE) wishes to “further differentiate fees by citizenship” — the same proffered in 2013 when the fees were last raised for permanent-resident and international students — perhaps more information can be provided on the regularity and details of such fee reviews (“School fees for PRs and foreigners to increase from 2016”; Oct 1).

Most will agree on the need for differentiation between permanent residents (PRs), international students and Singapore citizens, but to what extent? How did the MOE arrive at these numbers, and how have the fees changed over the years?

Less attention has been paid to this announcement by the MOE, because school fees for Singaporean students have not been changed, and education remains highly subsidised. However, clarity on the increases will be useful for some disgruntled parents. Also, the generalisation that PRs and foreigners are wealthy is not true. The fees for education in the primary and secondary schools are significant and could deter these parents from sending their children to local schools.

What might put the rising fees in context is the number of PRs and international students who will be affected. Numbers from MOE would be helpful.