Summary

In the 2024–2025 financial year, SAI Singapore audited the Ministry of Education regarding the administration of Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA)* funds used to pay for courses and other services provided by Post-Secondary Education organizations. SAI conducted a sample check of fund disbursements fr om PSEAs to the accounts of three training centers. The total amount of such funds for the period fr om April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2024, was SGD 30.09 million (USD 23 million). SAI found that one of the three training centers lacked adequate controls to verify the validity of the payments. Furthermore, it was found that unused PSEA funds totaling SGD 116 000 (USD 90 000) accumulated at the accounts of training centers due to the following irregularities: - 299 instances where funds were deducted multiple times (two and four times) for the same course, or where the deducted amount exceeded the established course fee; - 8 instances wh ere a student processed payments for eight courses at a single training center but did not actually enroll in any of them. Under applicable regulations, unused PSEA funds must be returned to the students' accounts. However, as of December 2024, the training center did not process such refunds. SAI identified shortcomings in the administration of PSEA funds and highlighted the need for the Ministry to strengthen its oversight of training centers, noting that the Ministry of Education’s supervision had previously been limited to providing students with monthly transaction statements and annual account status reports. At the same time, the procedure for withdrawing funds had been progressively tightened since 2022, requiring students to authenticate via the Singpass system to confirm each debit transaction. The auditors welcomed the pilot project launched by the Ministry of Education in December 2023, which engaged auditors to conduct in-depth inspections of selected training centers. Upon completion of the audit, the Ministry of Education informed SAI that the training centers had returned all unused funds to PSEA accounts in full. The Ministry was advised to verify whether any training centers had made duplicate charges over the past six years and to consider implementing systemic controls to prevent such occurrences in the future. Furthermore, the Ministry was recommended to require training centers to submit annual declarations confirming the legitimacy of fund charges and the timely return of unused amounts. * The Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA) is a Singaporean account for funding post-secondary education; it is opened automatically when certain conditions are met—such as a citizen turning 13 and having a remaining balance in their Child Development Account (a special savings account established at birth). The government provides matching contributions to PSEA up to a specified lim it until the citizen reaches the age of 20. Funds in the account can be transferred between siblings, parents can also make contributions. PSEA is administered by the Ministry of Education of Singapore.