Estate of Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat Launches $25 Million Fund for Education

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1. The Estate of Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat launched a $25 million Khoo Teck Puat Education Fund today. The Fund will provide for three programmes: training opportunities to strengthen English language teaching in the region, opportunities for needy students in our polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education to gain overseas exposure, and scholarships for deserving students from Singapore and China to pursue their undergraduate studies in Singapore universities. The Ministry of Education will administer the fund.

2. Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat was a philanthropist who donated to many causes – particularly in the areas of medical research, healthcare and education – in his lifetime. The launch of the Khoo Teck Puat Education Fund is in line with his pioneering spirit and international outlook where deserving causes would be considered regardless of geographic boundaries.

3. The Fund will be for use over five years, starting from 2008. It will go towards three programmes :

a. The Khoo Teck Puat Regional Teacher Training Programme will fund ‘train-the-trainer’ schemes to support English language teaching in the region. For a start, funding will be provided to trainers of English language teachers from Vietnam, through programmes in Singapore as well as Vietnam. This will be extended to other countries in the region later.
Through the train-the-trainer approach, Singapore can help countries in the region equip English language teachers with the necessary skills to help their students prepare for the global economy where English is a key language for commerce and networking.

b. The Khoo Teck Puat International Opportunity Programme which will help needy students from ITE and the polytechnics to obtain an overseas educational experience. This would take the form of subsidies to fund various forms of overseas exposure, such as industrial attachments, exchange programmes, or community service projects. The subsidies, which come up to $1,200 per student, will benefit about 3,500 students.

c. The Khoo Teck Puat Scholarship Programme which awards scholarships to students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds and who have done well academically to pursue their undergraduate studies in our local universities. The Scholarship Programme will be awarded to students from Singapore and China initially. A total of 90 scholarships worth about $6.5 million will be awarded to deserving students.

4. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance and Minister for Education, witnessed the cheque presentation ceremony, which was held at the Institute of Technical Education headquarters this afternoon.

5. Thanking the Estate, Mr Shanmugaratnam said that the donation was an excellent example of how private philanthropy could work hand in hand with the public sector to achieve common objectives. He said “The Estate’s generous donation complements our ongoing efforts to provide opportunities for students to gain international exposure and sensitise them to Singapore’s place in the global environment…the donation also supports our ongoing collaborations in the region to build up teacher training capabilities in key areas.”

6. The trustees of the Estate have taken over from Tan Sri Khoo Teck Puat following his demise in February 2004, continuing his legacy through the distribution of funds centred on medical research, healthcare and education – areas of great personal interest and passion to the late Tan Sri Khoo.

7. Some of the Estate’s major philanthropic projects include the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for the community, the Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School and Peking University’s new sports complex, the venue for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Table-tennis Competition. Other recent projects include the Autism Resource Centre, the National University Hospital Centre for Advanced Surgery Training, National Neuroscience Institute Integrated Operation Suites, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, St. Joseph’s Institution (International) and the Kidney Dialysis Foundation.

8. The Estate has also donated generously towards the procurement of the 9th Century Tang Treasure for Singapore’s Maritime Heritage Foundation.