Some students from lower-income families to get further subsidised CDAC tuition from 2023
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Minister Ong Ye Kung takes a selfie at the 2022 Ready for School event held at Nanyang Junior College.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
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SINGAPORE - Some primary and secondary school students from lower-income families will have their tuition classes further subsidised from 2023.
This is among several plans the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) has lined up for 2023 and beyond.
A spokesman for CDAC said on Sunday that the subsidised rates will apply to beneficiaries from families whose monthly household income ranges between $2,400 and $4,800 and whose per capita income is between $800 and $1,400.
Their parents will need to pay only a one-time fee of $10 for them to attend tuition classes from Jan 1, 2023.
Currently, beneficiaries’ parents need to pay up to $60 per subject per month for tuition classes.
The unsubsidised rate is $80 for each subject for primary school pupils and $120 for secondary school students.
For families whose monthly household income is less than $2,400 and per capita income is below $800, tuition fees for their primary and secondary schoolchildren will remain fully subsidised.
The CDAC currently opens classes only if there is a minimum of six students per class.
From 2023, it will open classes as long as there are two to three students per class for primary foundation and secondary normal technical classes, said the non-profit self-help group for the Chinese community.
The CDAC announced the changes on Sunday during an event called “Ready for School Project”, which prepares students for the next academic year.
The self-help organisation added that it will set aside $38.04 million for programmes lined up in 2023.
Its spokesman said that the amount is 4.5 per cent higher than its projected spending in 2022.
Speaking to reporters at Nanyang Junior College, where the event was held, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said: “The budget will be used to the best of our ability to help the more vulnerable members of the Chinese community.”
Mr Ong, who is the chairman of the CDAC board, added: “One area that we are really focusing on is education because we feel that to enhance social mobility within our community, we have to focus on educating the young.”
He noted that while schools are effective, enrichment programmes and tuition classes will give students a leg-up.
The CDAC currently supports around 8,000 low-income families and their 16,000 school-going children.
On Sunday, it also announced that it will roll out five new programmes to further support families in need.
Beneficiary families participate in activities at the event venue of Nanyang Junior College on Dec 4, 2022.
ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
One of them, called the Primary 1 Integrated Learning Programme, will help 24 pupils to build their foundation in literacy and numeracy through play. This programme is an extension of the CDAC’s tuition classes.
Another programme, the Integrated Education And Development Programme, will provide 50 primary school pupils with long-term support until their post-secondary school years.
The programme, which aims to get the pupils interested in learning, will involve their parents and community organisations.
CDAC said that it hopes to eventually help 800 families in the next five years through this programme.
