Marry or have children and get free modules, SUSS tells part-time students
SINGAPORE - From July 23, part-time adult students of the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) who marry or have children with a fellow part-time student during their course of study will receive free modules, the university announced on Friday (July 13).
This Marriage and Baby Bonus scheme is "in support of Singapore's continued focus on encouraging marriage and parenthood", it said in a media statement.
To qualify for the scheme, a couple must register their marriage, or a child's birth or adoption, on or after the implementation date.
They must also be Singapore citizens or permanent residents of at least 21 years old.
Those who qualify can redeem either two free modules, with a maximum of five credit units per module, or one 10-credit unit module.
Each module of five credit units would typically cost about $2,000 before government subsidies kick in. After subsidies are applied, a student has to pay about $1,000.
The scheme is open to all fee-paying SUSS students enrolled in a part-time programme, including undergraduate, law and post-graduate programmes. Students on SUSS scholarship or company sponsorship are not eligible for the scheme.
Mr Safeel Noor, 23, a part-time psychology and sociology student, said: "I think couples here would benefit from this programme, because the point of these part-time courses is to make ourselves more marketable as we advance into the working world.
"This scheme may also help Singapore's declining birth rate."
Mr Safeel's girlfriend is not an SUSS student.
"What a shame," he said. "I would gladly put the free modules to good use."