The upcoming Budget will cover social programmes that focus on the elderly, healthcare and education as well as pay special attention to helping the disadvantaged and underprivileged, Second Minister for Finance and Education Indranee Rajah said yesterday.
“We are putting special focus on how we can help those who are underprivileged, from a disadvantaged background, and the Uplift committee will be a part of that,” she said, referring to the Uplifting Pupils in Life and Inspiring Families Taskforce (Uplift).
Ms Indranee declined to elaborate on whether social spending this year would be higher than that last year (2018), but she noted that it has more than doubled in the past decade, spurred in part by the growing needs in the education and healthcare sectors – the first because of the need for continued education, and the other due to an ageing population.
The Big Heart Student Care centre at Lianhua Primary School is one of 24 centres operated by the four self-help groups – the Chinese Development Assistance Council, Mendaki, Singapore Indian Development Association and Eurasian Association. Six more centres are expected to be set up by the four self-help groups by next year (2020).
Nearly half, or 45%, of the 3,021 students enrolled in these school-based student care centres are from lower-income families and pay subsidised fees under the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s Student Care Fee Assistance scheme.
She added that the Uplift committee would be making more detailed recommendations when Parliament meets to debate the details of the Budget.
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Source: The Straits Times, 31 January 2019