CapitaLand-Bright Horizons Fund programme to benefit 2,000 My First Skool pre-school children in support of Singapore government’s efforts to strengthen early childhood education

More than S$660,000 CapitaLand Cares @ CDC programme to support over 5,000 vulnerable elderly and children

Singapore, 11 October 2019 – CapitaLand has launched a programme for pre-schoolers in Singapore with S$750,000 funding from its philanthropic arm, CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), to help 2,000 NTUC First Campus’ My First Skool pre-school children from low-income families to be ready for primary school. Launched in partnership with NTUC First Campus’ Bright Horizons Fund, the CapitaLand-Bright Horizons Fund Ready-for-School programme is in line with the government’s efforts to strengthen early childhood care and education, as well as provide all children with an equal start in life.

Under the three-year programme, CapitaLand’s contributions will allow seven more My First Skool centres to provide the Classroom Support Programme, bringing it to a total of 20. More classroom co-facilitators will be deployed to provide for an additional 200 pre-school children who require learning support. The first-of-its-kind in the early childhood sector, this structured programme has classroom co-facilitators to partner teachers to support children with learning difficulties. Teaching will be done in small groups, focusing on language, literacy and numeracy. A yearly impact assessment will also be conducted to measure effectiveness of the programme.

CapitaLand-Bright Horizons Fund Ready-for-School programme also provides graduating My First Skool Kindergarten 2 children with school bags and essentials to prepare them for primary school. To celebrate the completion of their pre-school education, the children will also go on learning journeys to CapitaLand malls.

Today, over 400 graduating Kindergarten 2 children visited Jewel Changi Airport (Jewel) hosted by CapitaLand in conjunction with CapitaLand Volunteer Week (2 – 11 October 2019), where 380 staff dedicated more than 1,600 hours to give back to the community.

Separately, as part of CHF’s existing partnership with five Community Development Councils (CDCs) through CapitaLand-People’s Association Community Development Fund established in 2016, more than S$660,000 will be set aside for five initiatives under CapitaLand Cares @ CDC programme to support over 5,000 vulnerable seniors and children in their education, healthcare, shelter and living needs. CapitaLand staff volunteers also brought about 190 vulnerable seniors and children from low-income families on an educational tour of Jewel and were treated to a meal at Five Spice food court.

Mr Tan Seng Chai, Chief Corporate & People Officer for CapitaLand Group and Executive Director of CapitaLand Hope Foundation, said: “CapitaLand is committed to support the building of inclusive communities in Singapore and other geographic locations where we operate. We continue to focus on helping children from low-income families in areas such as education which are key to the children’s growth. CapitaLand-Bright Horizons Fund Ready-for-School provides care and attention to pre-schoolers with learning needs that will better prepare them when they enter primary school. Likewise, CapitaLand Cares @ CDC caters to underprivileged children’s education and basic needs. It also provides vulnerable elderly with care and improvements to their living conditions. We are mobilising CapitaLand staff to give back and contribute meaningfully to the beneficiaries and the community.”

Mr Chan Tee Seng, NTUC First Campus CEO, said: “NTUC First Campus is committed to playing a leading role in giving every child a good start in life. We have a unique Child Support Model that supports low-income families and their children in their financial, learning and development as well as social needs. Beyond our recent partnerships in enabling low-income children to have access to pre-school education, we also have a Classroom Support Programme to reinforce in-classroom pre-school support for children with learning needs as we observed that many of them tend to face learning difficulties due to a lack of resources. We need the support from socially conscious organisations such as CapitaLand to join hands with us to take the learning support and opportunities provided to a greater scale. Through this new programme, we can reach out to some 2,000 children over three years. Together, we can create a wider support system for our children to have an equal footing and enter Primary 1 confidently.”

Mdm Chong Ngah Sum, mother of a My First Skool Kindergarten 2 child who has benefitted from the Classroom Support Programme, said: “The programme has helped my daughter over the years. She used to be very quiet and introverted but now she knows how to play with her friends. She has improved a lot since being in the programme, especially in English. We speak Cantonese at home, and she has learnt how to converse and write in English and Mandarin in school. She can also spell words by herself now.”

Ms Low Yen Ling, Chairman of Mayors’ Committee and Mayor of South West District, said: “The Community Development Councils are happy to continue our partnership with CapitaLand Hope Foundation to uplift the lives of the vulnerable seniors and children. By joining hands to address and meet the needs of the disadvantaged in our community, we are strengthening our net of care and support which boosts resilience and builds unity in our society. We look forward to more of such exemplary corporate support and volunteerism that creates an inclusive Singapore.”

To date this year, CapitaLand has contributed over S$2.1 million to provide for more than 50,000 underprivileged children and vulnerable elderly in Singapore. These two new initiatives follow CapitaLand’s launch of a S$500,000 CapitaLand-U Care Resilience and Enablement Fund in July 2019 to support 2,500 children of NTUC union members impacted by unexpected loss of income. In June 2019, with the support of CHF through CapitaLand Silver Empowerment Fund, a TOUCHpoint@AMK 433 community hub was opened to help seniors in the Ang Mo Kio neighbourhood to age in place by providing them with activities and services to keep them active and healthy.