According to a HSBC survey, 92% of Singaporean parents want their kids to go to university but almost half the parents polled (49%) felt they had not made sufficient financial plans to facilitate their children going to uni.
Even though costs for education are rising, many parents still believe that it is a priority with 53% of parents indicating that sending their children to university would be the best investment they could make.
In fact, in order to get their kids a university degree, 82% of parents were open to the idea of sending their kids overseas for uni.
However, one of the biggest concerns for parents is the fees involved, particularly for overseas universities.
The poll took responses from 309 parents who had children aged under 23 and attending school.
In terms of financial planning, only 17% indicated that they had set up investments which would pay for their children's education. The rest will be using their current incomes or savings to pay for their children's University.
While students who attend university locally could use some of their parent's CPF savings for the fees, when only 30% of all students make it into a local, subsidised university, many parents are left with high tuition fees for their children.
For these parents, some may find that they simply cannot afford to send their kids to Uni.
What is interesting about the poll is the large number of parents who want to send their kids overseas if they had the financial means.
Even though Singapore boasts of having world-class universities, 82% of parents would be willing to send their kids elsewhere.
Is there something wrong with Singapore's education system that parents would rather their kids go overseas?
It is also concerning that almost half the parents polled felt they had not planned financially enough for their kids to go to university. Does this mean that about half of parents would struggle to put their kids through University?
The financial aspect is likely to be a much less daunting issue for students who attend local universities but as only 30% can make it in, only students who do well in school would be able to study locally.
The rest need to put a lot of financial pressure on their parents or forego University all together.
In other countries such as Australia, students need only avoid failing in school in order to qualify for several courses at local universities. In Singapore, even those who pass everything will find it hard to get into a Local University.
What's the point of having such world-class universities in Singapore if few local students can get in and 82% of parents still want to send their kids elsewhere?
