Indian graduates multiply in Singapore, median pay goes up by 40%

The Indian community in Singapore has made strong progress in terms of education and earnings levels, says Minister for Home Affairs and Law of Singapore K Shanmugam. Quoting country statistics, he highlighted the gains in the past two decades as being a result of immigration along with development work among communities.

Speaking at a recent SINDA forum, Shanmugam explained that 41% of Indians over the age of 25 were degree holders in 2020, an alarming rise from 16.5% in the year 2000.

"That is four out of 10 Indians who are graduates," he is quoted as saying by The Straits Times.

He also mentioned that the number of students dropping out before securing secondary school certification had fallen. Indian students were falling out without a secondary school certification in 2020 at the rate of 18%, against 38% in 2000. "Though this is a significant fall, we can reduce it even further," he added.

The minister added that Indian households also experienced a median monthly income increase by 40% from SGD6,000 in 2010 to SGD8,500 in 2020.

INFORMATION ON INDIANS IN SINGAPORE

Sinda Chairman Shanmugam credited the rising trend to efforts of the community and support from organisations like SINDA, which offers educational assistance as well as outreach programmes.

Sinda Chief Executive, Anbarasan Rajendran, said that in 2024, the organisation had helped some 31,500 individuals through its activities.

All this was facilitated by more than 578 partners and more than 400 volunteers. Sinda also received SGD1.7 million given to it this year.

According to recent population statistics, Indians comprise around 7.6% of the total citizen population of nearly six million in Singapore. The Indian population is steadily increasing, with most of this increase due to professional immigrants who become Singaporean citizens because of a shrinking birth rate.