SINGAPORE - Mr Benedict Lim, 23, is hard of hearing and strapped for cash, but that has not stopped him from pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
The second-year undergraduate is hoping that a new study grant, for which he is applying, may ease his financial troubles.
Mr Lim was raised by a single mother who earns $1,300 a month as a general worker. While his friends were free to hang out after school, he has been working part-time as a delivery rider over the last four years. This was while he was a student at the Institute of Technical Education and Singapore Polytechnic, and currently at NTU.
He earns $700 a month, but the job comes at a price. “It has been very tiring, and I couldn’t focus on studying,” he said.
Now, he is hopeful that life will get easier. Mr Lim is applying for a new $4,000 study award for students with special educational needs from lower-income families to study at institutes of higher learning. Called the Talent Uplift Programme, the award by non-profit organisation TomoWork will support up to 10 special needs students each year.
TomoWork started the programme to help students with special educational needs who may face additional cost pressures as they pay for medical consultations, medication or therapy. This may deter some of them from pursuing their tertiary studies.
Mr Lim relies on a hearing aid and note-taking services in his studies, but his current hearing aid is ageing. Even with a 90 per cent government subsidy for a new hearing aid, he says he still needs to pay $1,200 out of his own pocket.
Speaking at the launch of the study grant, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said: “(TomoWork’s Talent Accelerator Programme) is a good example of the positive impact that collaboration among the people, private and public sectors can bring about.
“TomoWork and its corporate partners, with support from various polytechnics, have brought their expertise and resources to this programme, to support skills development and employment of persons with disabilities.”
TomoWork runs a 12-week Talent Accelerator Programme to prepare students with special educational needs for their careers by equipping them with technical skills and sending them on attachments.
Mr Lee said he wants Singapore to strive towards increasing the employment rate of persons with disabilities to 40 per cent by 2030, from around 30 per cent in recent years.
TomoWork, which was set up in 2019, has played a role in making persons with disabilities more employable. It worked with 50 companies, including Barclays and Bloomberg, and supported 192 persons with disabilities and special educational needs.
The study grant will be disbursed every semester, and those who receive it are required to do voluntary work at TomoWork or engage in other community activities with TomoWork.
Grant recipients will also get guidance from a corporate mentor during their university studies, as well as employment opportunities with TomoWork’s corporate partners when they graduate.
Mr Lim, who joined the Talent Accelerator Programme in 2022, returned to TomoWork to help his juniors with their corporate project this year. He received a Higher Education Community Bursary of $5,100 a year, but this falls short of covering his annual tuition fees of $8,250.
He is not the only one looking for a leg-up.
Mr Tayson Tay, a biotechnology graduate of Republic Polytechnic, who has mild autism, is also considering applying for the study award to study at a private university.
He participated in the latest round of the Talent Accelerator Programme, where his team worked with pharmaceutical company MSD to create a gamified solution to improve public knowledge of healthcare financing. The 19-year-old said: “I’m keen to apply for (the grant) as I would like a strong safety net financially, to help my family to shoulder the burden.”
Mr Lim has hopes of becoming a mechanical engineer specialising in 3D printing, while Mr Tay wants to work in the biotechnology industry, leading projects and manufacturing medicine for the public.
Mr Tay said: “(Joining the TomoWork programme) was a way of pushing myself to the limit... I need that sense of direction in my life so I can perform to my maximum potential.”
