Low-income Malay/Muslim parents will get more help to save money for their children’s pre-school education, with a new grant that will quadruple their savings.
The grant, set up by self-help group Mendaki and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), is open to Malay/Muslim families with children aged six and under, and with a monthly household income of $650 or less.
Grant recipients will receive a matching top-up from community funds when they save in the Child Development Account (CDA), which the Government will further co-match – up to a cap of $360 per year.
This means that if a parent saves $30 in the child’s CDA, the Mendaki-Muis Preschool Grant will top up another $30, and the Government will add $60 to the account.
Announcing the grant on 8 March, Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad noted that some vulnerable families need extra support beyond existing schemes.
Mendaki said the grant is being piloted from January this year to December 2023 for 100 pre-schoolers.
Most of these children will be identified through its Preschool Outreach Programme, which promotes the importance of pre-school education to lower-income families and works closely with them to ensure their children attend school regularly.
A Mendaki spokesman told The Straits Times the group is setting aside $164,000 over the four years for the new grant.
Mr Zaqy also said several changes will be made to Mendaki’s tuition scheme, which sees more than 7,000 primary and secondary school students attend extra lessons by volunteers.
Mendaki said these changes, which follow a review last year, will include restructuring tuition centres and introducing cluster principals to oversee the tuition scheme.
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Source: The Straits Times, 7 March 2020