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

SINGAPORE: A new scholarship for undergraduate student-athletes as well as CPF top-ups for those under the Sports 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 athletesconcurrently 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 who take up the scholarship and study sport-related courses, Sport Singapore (SportSG) will facilitate job opportunities in the sports sector when they are ready