CDAC to give $300 education grant to 10,000 needy families

To help defray expenses for lower-income families with children, more financial aid will be given to those in the Chinese community in the coming months.

The Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) announced yesterday that it will be providing further assistance to these families with school-going or young children in two more ways.

A one-time education grant of $300 will be given out to 10,000 beneficiary households with school-going or young children from next month onwards. No application is required.

One household that will receive the grant comprises Madam Yeong, 47, an administrative assistant, her 50-year-old husband, and their three children aged 19, 15 and 10. "The money can help with buying resources like story books to supplement my children's studies," Madam Yeong, who did not want to give her full name, said in Mandarin.

During this period, her husband, who works as a cashier, saw his full-time position converted to a part-time role, resulting in a pay cut of almost half.

"Any money now is helpful," added Madam Yeong, who will also be applying for a bursary through CDAC for her two younger children.

The CDAC's Youth Empowerment and Aspiration Programme Grant, meant to help with educational expenses, will also be given to more post-secondary students.

Last month, the number of students set to receive this $720 grant was 3,200. This number will be increased to 5,000 as post-secondary institutions are invited to nominate eligible students.

The grant will be given to the students through their institutions from June.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung who is also CDAC's chairman, said this would be twice the number of recipients as compared with last year.

"These families and students will also be invited to the CDAC Ready for School project at the end of the year to receive additional support, such as vouchers for transport and school supply," he said. "Self-help groups such as CDAC will do the best we can to help Singapore families go through this crisis," added Mr Ong.

These two moves will be funded by the $5 million grant the CDAC will be receiving from the Government as part of funds set aside for self-help groups in Budget 2020. The $5 million will also fund other previously announced CDAC initiatives to help those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

These include a one-time $100 assistance for those retrenched and reopening bursary applications for this year.

Earlier this month, Yayasan Mendaki, a self-help group that caters to the Malay-Muslim community, had said that its existing applicants for the tertiary tuition fee subsidy scheme could reapply if their household income had been affected by the Covid-19 situation.

They would then benefit from a higher subsidy.

It is also providing an allowance to Institute of Technical Education students who have lost part-time jobs or whose parents have lost their jobs, to cover meals and transport when school reopens.

The Eurasian Association has also devised a slew of measures to help its community, including a monthly $500 cash grant for those who had lost their jobs or taken a pay cut, for up to three months, and a one-time grant for urgent and immediate needs.

It also increased its pocket money fund payout to students by $100 a month, capped at nine months, while those on its bursary would receive an additional $75 to $100 a month till September, according to its Facebook page.

The Singapore Indian Development Association (Sinda) said current recipients of its Sinda Bursary and Post-Secondary Bursary will receive an additional $50 a month. It has set aside $350,000 for this.

It expects more students to apply for the Sinda Bursary next month. It has also set aside $352,000 across its various support schemes for families.