Media Division, Ministry of Information and The Arts, 36th Storey, PSA Building, 460 Alexandra Road, Singapore 119963. Tel: 3757794/5
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SPEECH BY DR ALINE WONG, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR HEALTH AND EDUCATION, ON THE OCCASION OF THE CHILDREN'S SOCIETY OPENING CEREMONY OF PROJECT "C" HELD ON WEDNESDAY, 9 JULY 1997 AT BRADDELL SECONDARY SCHOOL AT 4.00 PM.
I am pleased to officiate at this project initiated by the Singapore Children's Society. Your initiative, which aims to identify and reach out to youths with problems or those at-risk, is both timely and proactive in approach. It complements the various strategies which the government is undertaking to arrest the problem of school drop-outs and youths at-risk. Your Society should be commended for this school-based youth drop-in Cabin Programme.
It is good for every one involved in working with the young - be they schools, government ministries, VWOs (Volunteer Welfare Organisations), Self Help Groups, National Youth Council or other agencies - to join forces to help our young who have problems and/or have gone astray. I am glad to note that a multi-pronged and collaborative approach to deal with the problem of juvenile delinquency and school discipline is being adopted.
Our Ministry has implemented the Teacher Counsellors Scheme. This is a follow up to a recommendation by the IMC (Inter-Ministry Committee on Dysfunctional Families, Juvenile Delinquency and Drug Abuse). Under the Scheme, two teachers in every school, junior college and centralised institute are to be trained in more advanced skills in counselling to help pupils with problems. A total of 475 teachers have been trained so far and another 200 will be trained by the end of 1997.
All schools have also been given $5000 each in their voted fund to employ the services of professional social workers to assist in counselling pupils with problems. Many schools have taken advantage of this provision to engage part-time or full-time professional counsellors to complement the counselling work of the teachers.
The Police are working closely with the schools through a few innovative projects. For example, the Volunteer Special Constabulary (VSC) Scheme will be introduced as a pilot project in 9 secondary schools in July 1997. Under this scheme, Discipline Masters or Teachers would be appointed in the role of liaison officers in networking with the police and to serve as a symbol of police presence in the schools.
Another programme being developed together by the Police, the Ministries of Community Development and Education and NCSS is the Police Caution Scheme. A system targetted to be implemented by end of this year is being formalised to refer some juvenile delinquents who have committed offences but not charged in court to Volunteer Welfare Organisations (VWOs) for counselling. Both the juvenile and his parents will be required to sign a letter of undertaking to participate in this programme for 6 months. If his progress is good, the Police may then give the juvenile a warning or caution. Alternatively, the VWO may recommend that the programme be extended or that the juvenile be charged in court.
In addition to these efforts by the various ministries, the National Youth Council, the National Council of Social Services, the Self Help Groups such as Mendaki, CDAC and Sinda, and many of the Volunteer Welfare Organisations such as the Singapore Children's Society and Family Service Centres have organised various youth outreach programmes and counselling services. These are all significant activities aimed at helping youth at risk and youth with problems.
It is well-established that problem youths and youths with aberrant behaviour come mostly from homes lacking in parental guidance, and those who are still in school are mostly low or under-achievers with little self-esteem. Other contributing factors include the influence of bad company, and the lure of consumption of branded goods. I am glad that your Society has taken cognizance of these factors and has come up with a practical project in one school last year (Westlake Secondary) to help at-risk youths. I am pleased to learn that your Society is now extending the successful pilot project to benefit one other neighbourhood school (ie Braddell Secondary).
Your Porta cabin as a Drop-in Centre for pupils will meet the needs of the two schools and the pupils concerned. The activities that you will be organising under this project which include workshops, talks, counselling, drop-in service and other constructive programmes will certainly go a long way to improve the self-esteem, and to develop positive interpersonal and problem-solving skills of the pupils concerned.
All in all, Project C is a fine example of a voluntary organisation working closely with schools to deal with a social problem which if not properly managed may grow to be a serious one. It is a very praiseworthy community project and I would like to congratulate the Singapore Children' Society for the innovative idea.