OVERSEAS YOUTH PROGRAMMES (Youth Expedition Programme and School Twinning Fund)

Column No : 1931

OVERSEAS YOUTH PROGRAMMES

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(Youth Expedition Programme and School Twinning Fund): **

26.

Dr Tan Sze Wee asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) if he can provide an update on the status of the Youth Expedition Programme (YEP); and (b) with the recent announcement of the School Twinning Fund (STF) to be set up by the Ministry of Education to fund overseas student exchange programmes, if it is intended for the STF to enhance or even replace the YEP programme.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: To date, about 9,000 youth have embarked on approximately 400 overseas projects for the Youth Expedition Project, or YEP. At the beginning of this year after the tsunami disaster, the YEP also funded 50 tsunami teams with about 600 youth, to contribute towards the rebuilding efforts in affected countries.

The YEP continues to be an important national programme to build up a pool of self-confident youth volunteers who can contribute to the community both at home and abroad. The YEP has also been effective in building up the expertise of our youth organisations such as the Singapore International Foundation, or SIF, in planning and organising international volunteering projects for our youth. Going forward, we would want to enhance the YEP’s structure and processes to reach out to even more youth.

To this end, the National Youth Council, or NYC, plays a critical role as it is already engaged in developing the youth sector. It has close links to youth organisations. Italso has the ability to drive sector-wide initiatives. Going forward, NYC will be the facilitator for the YEP. We will also enlarge the involvement of youth organisations, as a means to develop the youth volunteer sector. More details of the programme enhancements would be announced soon.

As we enhance the YEP, we will continue to have an integral community service component. This distinguishes the YEP from the School Twinning Fund (STF). The STF programme is an educational programme which aims to increase the awareness of youth on regional and global situations. It does not require a community service component. However, the STF programme will continue to complement the YEP as the youth who go for the STF funded overseas exchange programmes will also be exposed to the possibilities for overseas volunteerism work.