Education Support Programme

Education is one of a set of keys to a new life for an ex-offender. It creates great opportunities for growth and advancement. In addition, it contributes towards building a client’s self-esteem.

Unfortunately, many clients’ dreams of pursuing an education are hampered due to a variety of reasons. The reasons include a lack of knowledge on upgrading opportunities, lack of family support and guidance, and financial constraints.

ESP was implemented to assist such individuals in achieving their educational dreams.

Components of the ESP include:

  • Casework and counselling
  • Career counselling
  • Support group
  • Mentoring
  • Activities and Workshops
  • Education Fund / Lee Foundation Education Assistance Scheme (LFEAS)
  • Management of the In-care Education Grant

Counselling & Activities

Upon release, it is not unusual to find that a client who has been separated from his/her family during incarceration, struggles with reintegration issues while having to study at the same time. The ESP thus provides specialized casework and counselling to help students deal with these issues. Career counselling is also provided to clients who are unsure of their strengths and areas of interest, and are thus unable to pinpoint which courses or career path to pursue.

The support group meetings provide an opportunity for clients to meet with others who face similar challenges for mutual encouragement and to enhance each other’s coping abilities. The support group helps clients to realize that they are not alone and provides a caring environment where clients can share their experiences, methods of coping and new insights. In addition, students who have successfully graduated from the programme are roped in as mentors to current students. In this way, current students would be able to rely on a more experienced “friend” on top of the support group.

ESP motivates clients to engage in fruitful and healthy activities and provides opportunities to meet like-minded peers by organizing activities and workshops. These activities and workshops touch on topics such as study skills, time management, or goal setting and are intended to provide a holistic and enriching support base for ESP clients.

LEFAS

The Education Fund/Lee Foundation Education Assistance Scheme (LFEAS) provides the opportunity for clients to pursue ‘N’, ‘O’, ‘A’ levels, ITE courses or Polytechnic Diploma courses.

Applications for alternative courses of study other than those mentioned above are considered on a case-by-case basis. If successful, applicants will receive a grant of up to 90% of their course fees, which includes tuition and exam fees, and a book grant ranging from $50 to $100.

The scheme is offered to all clients who have been released from prison or a drug rehabilitation centre (DRC), not more than 2 years prior to application. In addition, the admission criterion also includes current prison or DRC inmates who wish to apply to the scheme to continue their education after their release. Applicants must be Singaporean or Singapore Permanent Resident.

Submitted applications are processed by SACA and later assessed by an independent committee.Apart from monetary assistance, all beneficiaries of the fund will benefit from the various components of the ESP to help sustain their motivation to complete the chosen course of study.

Please click here for FAQs on LFEAS

  LFEAS Application Form

  LFEAS EXTENSION Form

In-care Education Grant

The last component of the ESP is the management of the In-care Education Grant. SACA provides secretariat assistance for the Prison Education Grant, which extends its support to inmates who are pursuing their GCE ‘N’, ‘O’, ‘A’ levels while still incarcerated.

Individual assessment interviews with the inmates are conducted by SACA’s caseworkers, who then make the necessary recommendations for the grant.

The Education Grant Review Board, comprising of two Superintendents from neutral institutions and the Director of SACA, make the final decisions and consequent allocation of the grants based on the caseworkers’ recommendations.

Applicants, whose release date from prison is prior to the date of examinations, will be inducted into the Case Management Framework Programme (CMFP). This is to help sustain the client’s focus and motivate them to advance on the educational path they have chosen to tread.