Saturday, November 19, 2011

Reasons the transport fares for polytechnic students is fair

I am so gonna get flamed for this.

Why am I doing this?
1. Cause I am very free (weekends are carefree when you are on internship)
2. to share some of my views and experience and
3. I decided to settle this once and for all and save people time from complaining about the government.

Alright, I am a year 3 student, and yes, I have already paid the 'large' amount of transport fees. Therefore, what I am about to say may not mean a lot.

But still, this is for the few who can find this and are still studying in a polytechnic.

Alright right now some polytechnics students are upset about paying S$30~ (S$60 if you take the bus and MRT) more compared to their JC peers for transport. ( in total, 30*36months = $1080 more, if you need to take train and bus, you might not be walking enough/you chose the school/location is not MOE related, I think)

So, here are some reasons the transport fees is not a big deal

1. Quantum of 'Investment' from our government

Alright if you still do not know, you(your parents) are paying 2.2k per academic year, when it is supposed to be almost around 18k without tuition grant. Honestly, I have not checked out Junior College fees, but my gut feel tells me that the amount should be lesser.

So you(your parents) are already saving 12k a month, seriously, what are you complaining about?

2. Quantum of financial aid - for poor students

Financial aids in polytechnic ( I am a Ngee Ann student ) are MORE than JC.

The MOE website seems to suggest, with around $500 per cap income, you get 750/yr.

In Ngee Ann, with $500 we qualify for 2 busary, MOE and CDC, giving us 900 * 2 = 1800/yr.

That is A LOT of difference.

3. quantum of scholarships

In polytechnics its the amount of your tuition, 2.2k, maybe more of 'book' money

In JC flat 750

Once again huge difference.

4. Internship

Many of the internship comes with compensation, meaning that you are allowed to earn money while studying, the amount can vary, 400/mth to 1000/mth.

5. School events/career opportunities

Need extra money? Commit a few hours on a school marketing event ( Open house, etc ) earn up to 10/hr, or work for the school by mending their facilities ( gyms ) and earn around 5-6/hr?


And people, being a student myself, I have already thought of many excuses (prices of food/ buy clothes to wear print notes etc etc) All those are pretty much lifestyle related, and I have not thought of any good argument, so why not stop complaining, and get back to projects?

2 comments:

  1. Factors you did not consider:
    1) subsidised school fees for jc per month = 6 + 22 (variable, 22 is the max) = 336/year = $672 for the 2 years. (http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/pre-u/)

    And Edusave will be able to cover a LARGE (or even full) part of that which essentially means school fees = free for jc.

    2) by looking at numbers, financial aid is definitely more, but if you delve deeper, you'll see that the $750 (ONE year) given to them is already enough to cover their school fees for the full TWO years.

    however with MOE and CDC bursary, it is still not enough to cover the full amount of $2.2k/yr.

    3) Once again, 750 * 2 - 672 and jc students will be left with $828 after school fees while poly students will be left with 2.2k * 3 - 2.2k * 3 = $0!

    4) You'll still need to pay for UNSUBSIDISED transport and food while you're working out there. And don't forget, you're still paying school fees. =)

    5) Extra money from scholarship, still work for what? And a jc student does indeed sound like a better tuition teacher ($25~$30/hr) than a poly student. That is how the system works.

    My suggestion? Give the transport subsidies to those who are eligible for jc but chose the poly route instead! Don't penalise them just because they decided not to follow the system!

    The above are just my thoughts, absolutely NO flaming intended! Afterall, you're still my favourite junior. =D

    ReplyDelete
  2. HAHAHAH! omg i just put this up out of boredom didnt know people will read.

    These are from an economic perspective, in terms of absolute dollars and cents.

    The gahmen alr put in so much money into our polytechnic education ( of course its so expensive that we are still paying quite a lot)it may not be fair for us to get any more.


    also replying to yr factors,

    1) we can use edusave also^^

    2) absolute figure

    3)You could be right. however, too many variables in this, such as school events, internship etc.

    4)hahaha if u buy concession. its 'subsidized'


    5) You are quite right about this also. but JC student might not have the time to do so, hence got more of us in the market, and tuition reputation spread quite fast, since parents talk ^^ also, this point was more about 'extra income' for students!


    HAHAH I KNOW I KNOW, dont like that, I shy. <3

    ReplyDelete