Regional Studies Programme

Regional Studies Programme (RSP) (Bahasa Indonesia)

In 2008, the Ministry of Education introduced a new programme called the Regional Studies Programme or RSP, to four schools, ACSI, RI, RGS and VS. VS is the only school which offers Bahasa Indonesia (BI) among the 4 schools. RSP students have the privilege of learning BI as a third language in school and go through a specially designed Understanding Southeast Asia (USEA) module which is a study of people, places and cultures of Southeast Asia. In VS, RSP will have the following features:

a. Students in the RSP will offer BI as a third language and USEA as an enrichment module. To encourage students to offer RSP,

i. two bonus points will be given to RSP students who obtain a grade of A1-C6 for the BI;

ii. BI can be counted in-lieu-of a humanities subject in their L1R5 score.

b. Up to 20 scholarships will be awarded per cohort of students in the programme. The scholarships will cover a school fee subsidy, an annual allowance of $1000 per annum and sponsorship for regional immersion programme.

c. USEA is non-examinable. Its curriculum will include overseas immersion programmes and structured enrichment modules spread out during the course.

d. This programme is opened to Integrated Programme (IP) and O Level track students.

Eligibility for RSP

• For students who are not offering Malay as their MTL
• Students who excel in languages are strongly encouraged to apply

Eligibility for Scholarships

• For outstanding students who are Singapore citizens in RSP

Guidelines for Selection of Scholars

• Students who show keen interest in BI and in learning about Southeast Asian culture and contemporary society
• Achieve excellent overall academic results
• Exhibit scholarly qualities including leadership and other personal qualities

Terms of Scholarship

• Scholarship allowance of S$1000 per annum
• At government or government-aided schools – subsidy of school fees ($60 per year)
• There is no bond tied to the scholarship
• Funding of $80 per day for up to 20 days of immersion in Malaysia or Indonesia (onshore costs only) for the whole course ($80 x 20 = $1600)
• Includes accommodation costs and meals
• Excludes daily spending, visas, insurance and international flight(s) airfare costs