Opportunity
ASEAN Scholarship (Singapore)
The ASEAN Scholarship (Singapore) pays for students from Cambodia to finish secondary school and pre-university study in Singapore.[1] Singapore's Ministry of Education (MOE) offers it in each member country of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and each country has its own entry level and application period.[2] Students from Cambodia enter selected Singapore schools at Secondary 3 and stay four years, ending with the Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE) Advanced Level or a similar qualification.[1]
Sponsorship
The scholarship is funded by the Government of Singapore and run by its Ministry of Education.[2] MOE chooses the school and the hostel for each scholar, weighing the student's strengths, interests and fit with the school, and places scholars in hostels near their schools where it can.[3] The Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh holds a ceremony each year for the Cambodian recipients and their parents, attended by officials of Cambodia's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.[4][5]
Award and support
The award covers Secondary 3 and 4 and then Pre-university 1 and 2, and is renewed each year if the scholar does well at school.[1] Renewal also depends on good conduct.[3] It pays school fees, a yearly allowance with a hostel place, a settling-in allowance and a return economy air ticket.[1] It also covers the GCE O-Level and A-Level examination fees once each where they apply, and gives subsidized medical benefits and accident insurance.[1]
MOE sets the allowance to cover basic living costs such as food, transport, books and uniforms; any other fees a school charges are paid by the scholar.[3] Hostels serve breakfast and dinner on school days and three meals a day on weekends and public holidays, with arrangements for special diets.[3] Scholars may travel home in the June and December school holidays, but the scholarship does not pay for those trips.[3] Schools and hostels give pastoral care, and schools keep parents informed about academic and other matters.[3]
Eligibility
For the 2026 intake, applicants had to be Cambodian nationals born between January 2, 2010 and January 1, 2013.[1] They needed to have completed at least Grade 10 of upper secondary school, with English as one of their Grade 10 subjects, and to be proficient in English.[1] MOE also looks for steady success in school examinations and a good record in co-curricular activities.[1] Shortlisting weighs academic results, co-curricular activities, leadership and other strengths.[3]
Students who are already at a school in Singapore cannot apply.[3] Applicants apply under their nationality, so a Cambodian living in another ASEAN country applies for the Cambodian scholarship.[3] An applicant who was not selected in an earlier year may apply again while still eligible.[3]
Application
The 2026 application period ran from April 3 to May 15, 2026, and is closed.[1] MOE keeps a mailing list for news of the 2027 opening, and the Cambodian round usually opens in April and May.[1][2] There is no application fee.[3] Applicants create an account in MOE's online Tuition Grant and Scholarships system and apply there, and they can change the form until the period closes.[6][3] No documents are needed at first; shortlisted applicants are later asked for copies of a birth certificate, an identity card or passport and their results.[3] Applicants whose final-year results are not out yet may submit mid-year results.[3]
In the 2026 cycle, shortlisted candidates sat selection tests in Phnom Penh in June, with interviews in Phnom Penh planned for July.[1] Each candidate is told at least a week ahead.[1] The tests and interviews are in English.[3] The English test runs two hours, with a part on vocabulary, grammar and reading and a 30-minute essay, about 300 words long at Secondary 3 level.[3] The Mathematics test also runs two hours, with multiple-choice and short-answer questions, and simple calculators are allowed.[3] Candidates who live in another ASEAN country may ask to sit the test there.[3]
Awards for 2026 were planned for September, with scholars arriving in Singapore in November 2026.[1] Successful applicants hear by email and have about a week to accept.[3] The number of scholarships varies from year to year.[3]
Recipients
Three students from Cambodia received the scholarship for 2023, and six for the 2024 academic year.[5][4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Ministry of Education, Singapore, ASEAN Scholarships for Cambodia (July 2026)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ministry of Education, Singapore, ASEAN Scholarship (May 2026)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 Ministry of Education, Singapore, Frequently asked questions: ASEAN Scholarship (2026)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh, Press Statement: 2024 ASEAN Scholarship Award (October 6, 2023)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Singapore Embassy in Phnom Penh, Press Statement: 2023 ASEAN Scholarship Award (November 4, 2022)
- ↑ Ministry of Education, Singapore, ASEAN Scholarship Applicant Guide, version 1.4 (2026)