12 July 2000

SPEECH BY DR ALINE WONG, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION,
AT THE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PROGRAMME ACKNOWLEDGEMENT CEREMONY
ON WEDNESDAY, 12 JULY 2000, AT 2.30 PM
AT THE MANDARIN HOTEL, MANDARIN BALLROOM

1 It is a pleasure for me to be here on this important occasion as we acknowledge and show our appreciation for the invaluable support your organisations have given to our Community Involvement Programme (CIP).

2 Launched on 1st Oct 97, the objective of the Community Involvement Programme is to nurture all of our students to become socially responsible citizens, and to help them understand that every Singaporean has a role in enhancing the well being of the community and the country.

3 The programme aims to prepare our young for a lifetime of active citizenship. This is in line with our S21 vision for Singapore.

4 Your organisations provide valuable opportunities for our students to develop a sound sense of civic responsibility. By allowing the students to perform CIP at your organisations, they have the first taste of being involved in the life of the community. They have the chance to demonstrate the spirit of caring and sharing towards others. This is a very important step in strengthening the Singapore heartbeat among our young.

5 According to a CIP survey last year, in 72% of the primary schools, 46% of the secondary schools, and 63% of JCs and CIs, more than 50% of their students have exceeded 6 hours of community service. For CIP activities, some 92% of all schools collaborated with external organisations These activities include fund-raising, visits to homes, and special schools, caring for the environment, school performances at organisations, joint activities with residents' committees and community clubs, and tutoring and mentoring programmes for young children.

6 MOE is grateful to your organisations for opening your doors to our students and giving them opportunities to perform meaningful service. We are aware that accommodating our students may cause inconvenience to the work of your organisation. Your organisation may have to deploy staff to brief and guide our students. It involves an investment of your resources and time. It is a commitment that MOE greatly values.

7 MOE is mindful that, while developing our students, the CIP activities should meet the real needs of the community also. Schools put a lot of emphasis on the quality of service provided by our students. Teachers prepare their students ahead of the CIP activity and are present to monitor the students' performance.

8 As the community and schools continue to strengthen these partnerships and refine the programmes, they would need to work their way through many practical problems. For example, schools are constrained by lesson schedules, examination periods, school holidays. Your organisations have your own set of constraints. While schools will try to be flexible with time, it is inevitable that some adjustments have to be made on the part of the organisations in order to allow the students to come and give their service. We really appreciate your understanding and support in this matter.

9 MOE is also working to raise the awareness of our schools and teachers about the needs and constraints faced by the supporting organisations which help with the schools' CIP. At a seminar for all the CIP co-ordinators from schools in April, MOE invited the National Volunteer Centre and the National Council of Social Service to speak on the needs of the VWOs and some creative avenues of volunteering.

10 We can all work together to build a more gracious and compassionate society by letting our students experience what it means to be active citizens while they are still in school. If these students have had a positive and meaningful experience of CIP, they will be more likely to volunteer their time and service to the community after they leave school.

11 Students and young people may have potential contributions to make to your organisations and the services that you render to your clients too. Together, schools and organisations can motivate and engage our students by designing interesting and meaningful programmes that will stretch their ability.

12 It will be necessary to invest time and resources in training the young people to do the tasks. By performing real tasks and observing others do expert work, they learn to apply outside the classroom what they have learnt inside. They find this interesting, motivating and challenging, particularly if they receive some prior coaching on how to do the particular type of CIP.

13 As students become active stakeholders in the community, schools can serve as resources for the community to solve its problems or as resources for community development in general. I would like to encourage both the organisations and the community to work with the schools which have approached you to establish long-term partnerships. By becoming a strong partner with schools in providing opportunities for the students' experiential learning, communities are, in essence, playing an active role in the development and education of our youth.

14 We are all stakeholders in education. There is an African proverb that says, "It takes a whole village to educate a child". If we play our roles effectively, our young will learn better and reach their fullest potential.

15 Ministry of Education appreciates your participation in the CIP programme, and in transmitting the right values and attitudes to our young. We look forward to closer collaborations in future. Thank you very much and have a pleasant afternoon.