The Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) has identified significant weaknesses in the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) oversight of the Post-Secondary Education Fund, specifically the administration of withdrawals from the Post-Secondary Education Account (PSEA).
According to the AGO’s report for Financial Year 2024/25 released on 9 September 2025, unutilised withdrawals totalling S$116,200 were not promptly refunded by a training provider. These funds, drawn for course fees, remained unreturned for as long as 2.8 years.
The audit covered the period from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2024 and focused on both receipts and payments related to the PSEA, which facilitates the use of government savings for post-secondary education.
The AGO reviewed data on withdrawals across all training providers, amounting to S$30.09 million during the audit period. The focus was placed on three training providers through test checks.
At one provider, the AGO uncovered 299 instances where withdrawals were made multiple times for the same course or exceeded prescribed course fees.
In a further eight cases, withdrawals were made even though the member never enrolled in any of the claimed courses.
The AGO found that the unutilised amounts had not been returned to members’ accounts in accordance with the Education Endowment and Savings Schemes Regulations and MOE’s standard operating procedures. These regulations stipulate that such funds must be refunded.
The AGO criticised the ministry for relying on checks conducted by training providers and PSEA members themselves to ensure that funds were used appropriately and refunded when necessary. The absence of active MOE oversight created gaps in assurance that the proper safeguards were in place.
Additionally, the AGO observed that PSEA withdrawals were allowed before members were enrolled in courses.
This practice heightened the risk of unutilised funds accumulating if the member failed to enrol, and further increased the possibility of improper retention by providers.
In its response, the MOE stated that it had a control framework in place, which includes providing monthly and annual statements to members to track account activity. The ministry confirmed that the training provider involved had since refunded the full unutilised amount.
MOE also outlined a number of ongoing and upcoming measures aimed at strengthening fund governance.
Since 2022, the withdrawal process has been progressively tightened. In 2023, Singpass authentication became mandatory for all withdrawal requests by members, effectively preventing unauthorised or fraudulent transactions.
In December 2023, the ministry launched a pilot audit programme targeting selected training providers. This initiative evaluates the withdrawal and refund processes and is intended to be extended to all providers.
As a further step, MOE will now conduct retrospective reviews of withdrawals made by all training providers over the past six years.
It will also implement system-level checks to flag potential duplicate withdrawals and introduce annual declarations by training providers to affirm the validity of transactions and the timely refund of unutilised funds.
In the report, the AGO highlighted the need for more rigorous central oversight, noting that the lapses revealed structural issues in the withdrawal process. The ministry’s plans, if fully implemented, may address these concerns.
This finding was one of 25 significant observations in the AGO’s annual report, which reviewed governance and financial practices across ministries, statutory boards, and public agencies.
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