Pritam Singh talks to students & parents who joined WP’s free bursary program pilot

Singapore — Workers’ Party chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh wrote in an Oct 17 (Sunday) Facebook post that he had spoken to the students who had taken part in Aljunied-Hougang Town’s free bursary program, along with their parents.

“I am glad that the students found the additional coaching useful, especially with respect to concepts they hadn’t adequately grasped or understood in school,” he wrote.

Mr Singh announced the program for students in Primary 5 and Primary 6 in April.

Around 30 students participated in the program, which taught English, Maths and Science and was handled by The WP Community Fund community in collaboration with Explico – AI Enabled Education Assessment, an online education services provider.

He wrote that the WP hopes to expand the program so more students may be reached by it.

The students are Aljunied-Hougang residents and are “on the MOE FAS and/or students whose families were Blue CHAS cardholders.”

Mr Singh posted photos of his Zoom conversation with the students and their parents.

“I spoke to Bennett, Ian, Insyirah and Matthew and their parents. All of them were supportive of the program. In view of this feedback, we look forward to offer this bursary program again next year and hope to widen the number of students who could benefit from the program,” he wrote.

He also appealed to readers who might have “a good idea to share on how we can reach out to more students or young ones in the community who could benefit from this or similar initiatives,” to write to members of the WP.

In April, Mr Singh wrote that he had met Mr Ashutosh Shukla, Explico’s co-founder, who told him about the company’s programmes and its desire to help low-income students in Singapore in the upper-primary levels to improve their progress in English, Maths, and Science.

As it turns out, unbeknownst to him, former WP Non-constituency Member of Parliament Yee Jenn Jong is on the Explico team.

“After some discussions with Ashu and his co-founder Sandesh, and in collaboration with The WP Community Fund – a registered local charity – we have launched a 6-month bursary program targeted at Primary 5 and Primary 6 students who (a) reside within Aljunied-Hougang Town; AND (b) who are on the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme OR whose households are on the Blue CHAS card,” wrote Mr Singh.

To aid families who were eligible for the program but had no gadgets for online learning, Mr Singh appealed to “a friend from my NUS days, Johann Annuar of Engineering Good… During the COVID-19 lockdown period in particular, Engineering Good refurbished old laptops and distributed them to low-income students.” /TISG

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