By Tan Weizhen

A SELECTION of private schools are currently being assessed for their ability to manage finances, among a whole range of other criteria.

This is part of a push by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to get their houses in order, following a spate of scandals featuring dodgy

financial practices and dubious degree programmes offered by some of them.

MOE is aiming to fine-tune EduTrust, a trust scheme it is introducing to uphold student welfare and academic standards in private schools.

Yesterday, Senior Minister of State for Education S. Iswaran said in Parliament that data is being gathered from 17 private institutions to fine-tune the assessment criteria and processes and 'to iron out any kinks in the system'.

These schools - a mix of big, medium and small ones - will be tested to see if they can meet criteria such as financial management, curriculum design and development, and student satisfaction.

These criteria are not covered under the existing scheme CaseTrust.

EduTrust is one instrument to improve the management of private schools found in the new Private Education Bill that was tabled yesterday.

In the proposed legislation, operators of private schools that fold up or are de-registered have to refund students their course fees.

They also have to meet higher standards, show that their teachers, examination procedures and finances are up to scratch, and ensure that foreign institutions they link up with are up to par.

Those who issue false or misleading advertisements about an institution may be fined up to $5,000 and jailed up to six months.

About 1,000 private institutions will be covered under the new Bill - and 30 per cent of them are expected to opt for EduTrust.

To queries from Ms Denise Phua (Jalan Besar GRC), Mr Iswaran gave an assurance that although EduTrust is voluntary, schools still have to meet a 'threshold much higher than what is currently the case'.

EduTrust, he said, was 'a level beyond', and similar to ISO certification, 'a signal of quality'.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.