Bursary will pay out ‘up to 100% of study course fees’ for inmates pursuing tertiary training: Josephine Teo

SINGAPORE: Set on turning about a new leaf and seeking to demonstrate his small children the worth of instruction, an inmate graduated from his diploma with a best 4. Grade Issue Common when serving time in jail.

Haizat (not his serious identify), 46, will start off a degree system in organization administration and logistics with the Singapore College of Social Sciences (SUSS) this month, with his program service fees subsidised by a bursary. 

He is 1 of the recipients of the bursary established up by the Yellow Ribbon Fund and the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations. The bursary, which was introduced in February, subsidises course fees for inmates pursuing SUSS self-review degree programmes in prison university, and is open up to inmates of all races.

Speaking in a video at the start of the a few-day Community Motion for the Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders (Care) Network Summit 2021 on Tuesday (Jul 13), Next Minister for Property Affairs Josephine Teo reported the bursary will pay “up to 100 for every cent of system fees” for inmates pursuing tertiary schooling.

She also shared Haizat’s story.

“After failing his GCE O-Stages, Haizat commenced having medication. In 2016, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment,” she claimed. “During this time, Haizat’s youngsters were in primary university, and he dedicated to display his kids the worth of schooling, even even though he himself was in prison.

“With this newfound objective, Haizat retook his O-Ranges and went on to earn a diploma from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where by he graduated with a great 4. Quality Position Common.”

Haizat mentioned: “It (the bursary) has served me in a great deal of ways … I don’t have to rely on my loved ones, I really don’t have to set further monetary strain on my relatives for the reason that of my diploma study course.”

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Mrs Teo noted that the bursary has supported 11 inmates as of April.

“These partnerships can have a deep and profound impact on the lives of offenders and their people,” claimed Mrs Teo, who is also the Minister for Communications and Information.

Present inmates who have used for the bursary after they commenced their diploma programmes will be supplied guidance for the remaining time period of their studies with SUSS, from “incare phase which could extend into the community”, a spokesperson from the Care Network said in reaction to CNA’s queries.

In an interview with media in advance of Tuesday’s launch, Mr Tan Aik Hock, president of the Singapore Federation of Chinese Clan Associations claimed that the federation wanted to “give a prospect to the ex-offenders”.

“This would support them … when they are coming back again to sign up for the society, they will have a improved capacity, they will have a far better possibility to ‘gel’ into the society yet again,” he stated.

To be suitable for the bursary, inmates will have to follow SUSS’ needs, their family earnings will have to be no much more than S$1,500 and they have to be Singaporean or a long term resident.

PROSOCIAL PILOT PROGRAMME

To strengthen support for ex-offenders though they reintegrate into culture, the Care Network has improved its prosocial assistance channels, it said on Tuesday.

“Prosocial support is a important element in desistance, the place ex-offenders stay crime-free of charge and quit their cycle of re-offending by focusing on good associations to maintain their commitment to improve.

“When effectively reintegrated, these ex-offenders turn into ‘desistors’ – optimistic agents for change, by having to pay it ahead and aiding other ex-offenders remain crime-free of charge,” claimed the Treatment Community in a information release.

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A important initiative produced to endorse desistance is a prosocial pilot programme led by the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Affiliation and the Industrial and Services Co-Operative Society. 

The two organisations will serve as “key community touchpoints” to assistance desistors to assist other ex-offenders as a result of organising local community-led initiatives and extending outreach to ex-offenders in need.

The pilot programme was introduced in January.

“Aimed to recognize, equip and harness prosocial groups to assist the reintegration of persons-in-recovery, this pilot programme generates an ecosystem of prosocial support for ex-offenders as they return to the local community,” reported the Treatment Network.

Schooling FOR AFTERCARE Professionals

In Might, the Singapore Jail Provider and the Singapore Soon after-Care Association formulated the initial aftercare-particular schooling study course.

The Aftercare Competency Framework was released in April final yr and was produced to “outline the crucial competencies and understanding required in the aftercare sector”, explained Mrs Teo.

Fifty-one industry experts took aspect in the inaugural Corrections and Aftercare Landscape study course. In addition, the Care Community is establishing an on-line repository of investigate and aftercare assets by the conclude of the yr to “support awareness management and retention in this field”.

“The Care Community Summit … is an event the aftercare group seems to be forward to every single calendar year in supporting the reintegration of ex-offenders,” stated Mr Chng Hwee Hong, chairman of Yellow Ribbon Singapore and co-chairperson of the Treatment Community.

“Just as the saying goes, ‘it usually takes a village to increase a child’. We can also build a conducive and supportive surroundings which encourages ex-offenders to get possession of their reintegration and inspire some others along the way, via collaborations with existing and new associates in Govt, corporate supports and the substantial group.”