According to a survey by Brightsparks scholarship portal here, more top students are going for the Public Service Commission (PSC) university scholarships.
Some key findings: 1) expectation of starting salaries - SGD 2501 to SGD3000 2) of those keen on PSC scholarship, more than 40% would prefer to work in Ministry of Education 3) 35% would choose Ministry of Foreign Affairs 4) Top courses of studies: Business Admin / Management, Engineering, Accounting, Economics, Sciences / Applied Science.
Interestingly, the top industry they would go into - banking and financial sectors, notwithstanding the current financial turmoil.
A top student who opted for the PSC scholarship dismissed the suggestion that he is going for an "iron rice bowl" but rather due to the past track records of grooming applicants.
The increase in the applicants is welcomed as the top students keen to work for the public sector rose from 23.3% to 33.8% last year. Though the government has stepped up efforts to attract top students, key reason could be job security be the key consideration for students here.
A total of 3,252 students participated in this survey.