More care centres for seniors, financial aid for ITE graduates among social support plans in Forward Singapore report

SINGAPORE — The fourth-generation leadership has unveiled a national strategy for a more vibrant and inclusive Singapore.

The 180-page Forward Singapore report is the result of dialogues and engagement sessions over 16 months, and includes both policy moves to assure Singaporeans that their basic needs will be met, and efforts to spur mindset change.

Here's what you should know if you are a:

Student

• The aim is for more to enter secondary schools through Direct School Admission, up from about 10 per cent now
• Adaptive learning technologies and artificial intelligence to be explored to help tailor curricula to individual needs
• Streaming to be abolished to cater to diverse needs and abilities in different subjects, rather than focus on overall academic ability
• Youth panels launched in May 2023 to give young people a greater say in policymaking

Technical and community care worker

• Financial support for younger Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduates to get a diploma
• ITE graduates may receive Central Provident Fund top-ups to help them purchase homes or save for retirement
• More recognition for skilled trades and jobs involving “hands” or “heart” jobs, via training and career pathways that lead to higher incomes
• Continued regular reviews of existing schemes targeting lower-wage workers

Mid-career worker

• A further, substantial top-up of the SkillsFuture Credit for these workers
• Training allowances to be given when they take time-off for full-time, sustained training
• New support scheme for involuntarily unemployed job seekers, including financial support for those actively searching for a job

Parent

• Increase in centre-based infant care places by 70 per cent — or 9,000 spots — by 2030
• Affordable, safe and reliable childminding services to be introduced
• Feasibility of more paid parental leave to be studied
• Under the new ComLink+ scheme, ComLink officers will work with each family to co-develop customised action plans that are more tailored to each family’s needs

Caregiver

• Extra support to defray out-of-pocket costs for early intervention services, special education schools and special student care centres for families with children who need more help
• An ecosystem of support for caregivers to be created and access improved to available resources, such as through caregiver support groups
• Suggestions to better support working caregivers through measures such as caregiver leave and flexible work arrangements to be studied

Person with disability

• Installation of 24/7 on-demand audible traffic signals at 325 pedestrian crossings by end 2024
• New course to equip general practitioners to care for those with intellectual disabilities

Senior citizen

• Better retirement adequacy through enhancements to programmes such as the Silver Support Scheme and Matched Retirement Savings Scheme, and raising the CPF Enhanced Retirement Sum
• New Age Well SG national programme to help seniors to age gracefully in the community. This includes having more active ageing centres, such that eight in 10 seniors will live close to one by 2025
• Expanded Friendly Streets initiative to cover all towns, which will have more pedestrian crossings and wider and more accessible footpaths, among other things
• More senior care centres and home care options
• More senior-friendly fittings to choose from for Housing Board flats

Singaporean

• New Singapore Government Partnerships Office to facilitate interactions between citizens and government agencies
• New programme to better link donors to local communities and less privileged groups over a sustained period
• Continued efforts to be made to expand spaces for more interactions between different groups, such as collaborations between self-help groups

Read the full report here.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.