ITE STARTING PAYS REDUCED BY 28% OVER LAST 15 YEARS?

After writing “ITE, poly fees up: Bursary $25 monthly?” (Dec 9), I was curious as to whether real starting salaries have increased, since fees have been increasing.

I refer to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Yearbook of Manpower Statistics 2015.

ITE starting salary $1,600 in 2014?

The median gross monthly starting salary of ITE graduates (Higher Nitec (Engineering)) in full-time permanent employment was $1,600 in 2014.

ITE starting salary $1,500 in 1999?

The starting salary in 1999 was $1,500.

So, does it mean that the increase over the 15 years was only about 6.7 per cent ($1,600 divided by $1,500).

 

Certification Level	Starting Salaries ( Based on July 1999 survey )
Higher Nitec in engineering courses	$1,500
Higher Nitec in business courses	$1,400
Nitec in technical courses	$1,250
Nitec in Office Skills	$1,050

(Source: ITE)

Real starting pay down (-28%) last 15 years?

Since inflation was about 35 per cent from 1999 (CPI 73.814) to 2014 (CPI 99.984) – does it mean that the real increase was about minus 28.3 per cent or about minus 1.7 per cent per annum?

Note: I am unable to find the starting salary for polytechnic graduates in 1999 and thus have not done any analysis for the polytechnics.

 

Leong Sze Hian

A.S.S. Contributor