Since last Wednesday (8 Apr), students have been engaged in Home-Based Learning (HBL) full-time as the ‘Circuit Breaker’ kicked in.
Some students, however, still return to school during this period, as they require the resources and care there.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced today (13 Apr) that all students under the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) can now benefit from meal subsidies even if they don’t return to school during the ‘Circuit Breaker’.
Previously, only students who were in school benefited from the meal subsidies.
MOE’s FAS normally provides needy students under FAS meal subsidies when they eat in school.
Now that schools are closed, students will be eating at home, but MOE latest move means they can still receive subsidies to ease the cost of food.
Primary school students will reportedly receive $80 — $60 from MOE and an additional $20 from the Sayang Sayang Fund by Singapore’s Community Foundation.
On the other hand, secondary school students will receive $120.
According to MOE, these sums of money are similar to what they receive on a normal basis.
Students will get the funds via their School Smartcards, which can be topped up at TransitLink Add Value Machines.
Their School Smartcards can be used at selected hawker centres, food courts, minimarts, convenience stores, and supermarkets to pay for food and other essentials like groceries.
The meal subsidies will benefit around 45,000 students. It will also complement the other schemes in place to help households tide through this difficult period.
Even though students under FAS aren’t physically in school during the period, it is heartening they are still being well-cared for by MOE.
It’s great that both their learning and meals are being handled. Ideally they’d be safe at home, ensuring their health and safety are being taken care of as well.
Hopefully, their e-learning goes smoothly as well, and they quickly settle into the new routine of online classes too.
Featured image adapted from Pinterest.
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