Lapses in audit? Suggest they check if MOE's budget for medical education has been appropriately used.

The Public Accounts Committee released its report on the MDA, MTI, MOE and Mindef showings lapses in the audit books.

It's all very interesting, but seems like chicken feed to me.

From where I am sitting, it always seems to me that whatever has been budgeted for medical education always seems like not enough. I have always wondered if the MOE budget for training of medical undergraduates, which I understand is based on number of graduating doctors, has been appropriately spent by the medical school. The number of students per graduating class has increased, so the total budget (MOE budget and school fees) must have gone up. The number of students per lecture theatre has gone up so the classroom cost per student must have gone down. The number of labs have been slashed, so the costs of providing labs must have gone down. The problem based learning platform that they migrated to some years ago utilizes 'non-expert tutors (facilitators)'....so the cost of tutoring must have gone down.

So if the budget has gone up and teaching costs gone down....how come the shortfall appears going up?

To what extent is the increasing costs due to non-teaching expenditure, such as research related ventures. I wonder if the Public Accounts Committee had looked into this?

Watch out for the next round of student fee increase.