National athletes can apply for undergraduate scholarship, to get CPF top-ups under spex scheme (2024)

SINGAPORE: A new scholarship for undergraduate student-athletes as well as CPF top-ups for those under theSports Excellence Scholarship (SpexScholarship) programme were announced by Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong on Wednesday (Aug 21).

Speaking at the High Performance Sport Ecosystem Stakeholders engagement session at the Sports Hub, Mr Tong said that the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship will provide funding support for expenses such as tuition fees and course materials.

The scholarship, which will be open to applicants from next month, will have two tracks, the first being the “dual career” track for athletes concurrently pursuing their studies while training and competing.

There will also be the “new career” track, for those who choose to embark on their studies after they retire from competitive sport.

The scholarship is open to active athletes prior to pursuing their full-time undergraduate degree, as well as active athletes pursuing their undergraduate studies, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) in a factsheet.

Among other criteria, applicants must be carded spexPotential and above and supported by their National Sports Association (NSA) at the point of application.

Applicants may choose to study any undergraduate course although sport-related courses are "preferred", especially for those applying for the "new career" track, said MCCY.

"The scholarship will provide even greater assurance to our athletes that their tertiary education can be taken care of," said Mr Tong.

To provide "even more assurances", for those whotake up the scholarship and study sport-related courses, Sport Singapore (SportSG) will facilitate job opportunities in the sports sector when they are ready to join the workforce, as previously done, said Mr Tong.

Under the“dual career” track,full tuition fees will be covered for scholars whopursue degrees in local autonomous universities or overseas universities assessed to provide a good "daily training environment". This is regardless of their course of study.

For the "new career" track,full tuition fees will be covered for scholars whopursue degrees in local autonomous universities as well assports science or sports management degrees in overseas universities.

For other non-sport courses at an overseas university, these scholars must bear the additional costs of pursuing the degree at the overseas university, less the cost of an equivalent degree at a local autonomous university, said MCCY.

Those on the “new career” track who are sponsored for an overseas sports-related course will be required to serve a six-year bond, said the ministry. The bond period may be served with SportSG, the Singapore Sports School or national sport associations.

For scholars on the “dual career” track, and those on the “new career” track who are not sponsored for a sports-related course, their scholarship will be bond-free.

Young athletes said the new scholarship would ease their concerns for when they eventually make a decision on their future.

“I’m really happy and motivated that … athletes are more supported by the government,” said table tennis player Izaac Quek, who will pursue a joint diploma offered by Ngee Ann Polytechnic and SSP.

“Now I just have to focus on table tennis itself, focus on training, focus on competitions and working hard.”

“A lot of my seniors stopped in uni because the support isn’t as good,” added national fencer Juliet Heng.

“Having this will actually (relieve) my burden and also let me focus more on my sport. Especially when I go to uni, there will be more competitions, bigger competitions like the Asian Games, the LA Olympics. Having this will give me a peace of mind.”

For Heng, going overseas for further studies would have previously been difficult without a scholarship.

Now, she could have the chance to follow in the footsteps of senior and two-time Olympian Amita Berthier, who trained in the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

“Before this was even in place, my family and I did talk about (the fact that) If I wanted to go, it would be better for me to be on some form of scholarship,” she explained.

“If I’m eligible, I’ll definitely want to go for the one the minister just said … I’ll continue to work hard and try my best.”

Athletes under thespexScholarship scheme will also receive monthly top-ups to their CPF accounts from April next year.

SportSG will"revise upwards" the monthly allowance for spexScholars and willchannel 20 per cent of their increased stipend into their CPF accounts. In addition, SportSG will contribute another 17 per cent of their stipend to their CPF accounts.

This top-up was sized by taking reference from the prevailing CPF rates for employers and employees today, Mr Tong explained.

He added that "competing at the highest level" means that sometimes athletes and para-athletes will forgo an opportunity that most have, which is to accumulate savings, including CPF.

And given that thecurrent stipends don't include CPF contributions, this affects them in a variety of aspects, Mr Tong added.

There will be a “milestone bonus” of one month’s stipend for every four years of spexScholarship completed to encourage athletes to remain in their sport at an elite level for longer.

"We have done well over the years ... but we think we can do more for our current and our future athletes," said Mr Tong

"Our athletes have similar aspirations as do all the other young Singaporeans, they are no different ... They want to attain higher education qualifications, they want to start a career, they want to achieve financial stability."

Athletes also face "unique challenges", such as the stress of struggling between academics or work, and their training and competition demands. Sometimes, they sacrifice one for the other, he added.

"We understand the pain of making these hard decisions, whether it is giving up the sport they love to pursue academics ...or letting go of their academics to pursue sporting aspirations full-time," Mr Tong explained.

He added that the ideais to minimise the "trade-off" between pursuing sporting excellence and furthering their studies and their career, so that these individuals don't have to choose one over the other.

As such, these "key changes" will be implemented to enhance the employability of athletes and para-athletes, and to support their post-athlete career transition.

THE POWER OF SPORT

Spex has come "a long way" since it was started more than three decades ago, said Mr Tong. In 1993, SPEX2000 was launched to provide financial support to athletes within a core group of 14 sports.

The scholarship programme now supports Singapore’s top athletes with monthly stipends, training allowances, as well as funding for competitions both here and abroad among other things.

Earlier this year, the spexPotential programme was also launched. It aims to bridge the gap in the athletes’ journey towards the spexScholarship by preparing them for sporting excellence at SEA Games level.

"We place great value in nurturing a pipeline of new sporting talent in Singapore," said Mr Tong.

"We want to provide stronger upstream support for them, so that they can better support, better fulfil, and better reach their sporting aspirations."

The total suite of spex programmes support approximately 1,600 athletes each year, said MCCY.

The announcements on Wednesday follow Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s speech at the National Day Rally on Aug 18 where he announced various initiatives to strengthen the sporting culture in Singapore.

Among other moves, Mr Wong revealed that Singapore Sports School (SSP) will move its campus from Woodlands to Kallang as part of the Kallang Alive Masterplan.

He said this would let student-athletes study and train together with senior athletes.

Calling Kallang a new “home” for Team Singapore, the Prime Minister had also revealed plans for new sports science and sports medicine facilities, as well as national training centres based under one roof, in the precinct.

Mr Tong described the Kallang Alive Masterplan as one of the "most major" developments for Singapore sports as well as one of the "biggest steps" taken to uplift sports.

"This shows that this government is fully committed to this endeavour, because we believe firmly in the power of sports to foster camaraderie, to bring people together and to build a sense of national identity," he said.

"And we firmly believe in our vision for sports to become a viable pathway for all Singaporeans.And for Kallang Alive to become the concrete manifestation of this vision."