sirgalahad2010
22-05-2006, 04:14 PM
Here's something for Samy Vellu, Subra, Palani and the other MIC top guns to consider.
From a Singapore Straits Times report today:
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The number of Indian pupils who went on to pursue tertiary education almost doubled from 1990 to 2004, due largely to the efforts of the self-help community group, Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA).
- in 1990, 39% of the Indian Primary 1 cohort was admitted to post-secondary institutions. This figure rose to 73% in 2004.
- the proportion of Indian students eligible to enter secondary school in 1990 was 80.2%. This increased to 95.5% in 2004.
- the percentage of Indian students passing the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) mathematics also increased from 54% in 1990 to 83% in 2004.
According to Spore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean: "These are not just statistics. Every one of them is a student who had done better, and who has a better chance of acquiring knowledge and skills that will help him find a good job in this globalised world."
SINDA, which is 15 years old, has 4,000 volunteers. 1 in 4 of SINDA's volunteers are students, and 11% are non-Indians.SINDA's youngest volunteer is 7 years old; the oldest is 90.
SINDA's success in enhancing the performance of Indian students is due to two factors - its special programmes and its outreach work.
For example, Project Teach was introduced in 2001 to help primary school students weak in English and mathematics, and it now caters to 1,000 students.
There is also the interest-free instalment scheme to purchase a computer at low cost under the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's Neu PC scheme, which benefited about 2,000 needy SINDA families.
To reach out to as many students as possible, SINDA works with more than 200 schools, community and grassroots organisations and places of worship, as well as through block parties and its TV and radio programmes.
Organisations in Singapore which support SINDA include Ernst & Young, the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and the Indian media - Tamil Murasu, MediaCorp's Tamil News, Vasantham Central and Oli 96.8FM
(emphases mine)
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I had asked in an earlier thread why the Indian community in Malaysia can't form a self-help group along the lines of Singapore's SINDA. The bottom line, as I gather, is that the Indian community in Malaysia is too fractured and divided among themselves to be able to agree on any concrete self-help measures to help needy Indian pupils and their families.
And the MIC, as the supposed standard-bearer for the Malaysian Indian community, has not come up with any answers, as far as I know, apart from pleading with the government for the community to be given a 3% equity stake (whatever that means). :(
From a Singapore Straits Times report today:
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The number of Indian pupils who went on to pursue tertiary education almost doubled from 1990 to 2004, due largely to the efforts of the self-help community group, Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA).
- in 1990, 39% of the Indian Primary 1 cohort was admitted to post-secondary institutions. This figure rose to 73% in 2004.
- the proportion of Indian students eligible to enter secondary school in 1990 was 80.2%. This increased to 95.5% in 2004.
- the percentage of Indian students passing the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) mathematics also increased from 54% in 1990 to 83% in 2004.
According to Spore Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean: "These are not just statistics. Every one of them is a student who had done better, and who has a better chance of acquiring knowledge and skills that will help him find a good job in this globalised world."
SINDA, which is 15 years old, has 4,000 volunteers. 1 in 4 of SINDA's volunteers are students, and 11% are non-Indians.SINDA's youngest volunteer is 7 years old; the oldest is 90.
SINDA's success in enhancing the performance of Indian students is due to two factors - its special programmes and its outreach work.
For example, Project Teach was introduced in 2001 to help primary school students weak in English and mathematics, and it now caters to 1,000 students.
There is also the interest-free instalment scheme to purchase a computer at low cost under the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's Neu PC scheme, which benefited about 2,000 needy SINDA families.
To reach out to as many students as possible, SINDA works with more than 200 schools, community and grassroots organisations and places of worship, as well as through block parties and its TV and radio programmes.
Organisations in Singapore which support SINDA include Ernst & Young, the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, the Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund and the Indian media - Tamil Murasu, MediaCorp's Tamil News, Vasantham Central and Oli 96.8FM
(emphases mine)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I had asked in an earlier thread why the Indian community in Malaysia can't form a self-help group along the lines of Singapore's SINDA. The bottom line, as I gather, is that the Indian community in Malaysia is too fractured and divided among themselves to be able to agree on any concrete self-help measures to help needy Indian pupils and their families.
And the MIC, as the supposed standard-bearer for the Malaysian Indian community, has not come up with any answers, as far as I know, apart from pleading with the government for the community to be given a 3% equity stake (whatever that means). :(