SINGAPORE : Nearly 1,600 scholars have been recruited under the Health Ministry's Scholarship Programme since 1994 but a small minority, 26 of them, have absconded. And they did so without paying liquidated damages.
Replying to a question in Parliament, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan says all but one of the absconders were nurses from China.
Mr Khaw says his Ministry has set guidelines to help hospitals deal with such default cases. This includes coordinating with the relevant authorities to cancel their work permits and student passes.
Steps are also taken to contact their guarantors.
If all efforts fail, legal assistance may be pursued.
Presently, some 700 of the scholars have already begun serving their bonds in Singapore hospitals after their training at Nanyang Polytechnic.
- CNA /ls