Mr Leon Perera: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) (a) how much has been disbursed under the Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Schools (YES! Schools) programme in each year since its inception, broken down by disbursements to polytechnics, ITE colleges and JCs/secondary schools; (b) how many schools have made use of the grant in each year since its inception, broken down by polytechnic, ITE college and JC/secondary school; and (c) how does the Government follow up on its implementation in each school that has received the grant to ensure that the learning outcomes are met.
Oral reply (to be attributed to Parliamentary Secretary Low Yen Ling)
1.The Young Entrepreneurs Scheme for Schools (YES! Schools) programme aims to nurture a more pro-innovation and entrepreneurial culture among our youth and stimulate interest in entrepreneurship. The programme, which is administered by SPRING, provides grants of up to $10,000 for structured entrepreneurial learning activities and projects in polytechnics, ITE colleges, junior colleges (JCs), and secondary schools. SPRING has also funded projects from some primary schools.
2.Since the programme was launched in Oct 2008 till 2016, about $4.3 million was disbursed to 149 unique schools, of which 95 schools have been awarded the grant more than once. Of the unique schools, 64 are primary schools, 79 are secondary schools and junior colleges, and 6 are ITE colleges and polytechnics. On average, about $184,000 has been disbursed to primary schools annually, $270,000 to secondary schools and junior colleges, and $87,000 to polytechnics and ITE colleges. More than 40,000 students have directly participated in entrepreneurship learning activities conducted by the schools under the programme thus far. In addition, the funding also supported outreach to thousands of other students in the schools.
3.To ensure that the programme objectives are met, SPRING monitors key outcome indicators in the participating schools, with a view to assessing the programme’s effectiveness and reviewing SPRING’s level of support. These include the number of students participating in the programme, and the number of working prototypes[1] developed by the students. SPRING also tracks the number of students participating in external competitions[2], as well as internal entrepreneurship showcases within the school. According to a study conducted by NTU on the effectiveness of the YES! Schools programme, students who participated in the programme indicated stronger entrepreneurial inclinations.
4.The YES! Schools programme is complemented by other programmes to expose primary, secondary and JC students to entrepreneurship-related activities and ensure learning outcomes. These include MOE’s Applied Learning Programme (ALP) for Business and Entrepreneurship, the provision of Elective Modules on Entrepreneurship, and the availability of entrepreneurship-related Co-Curricular Activities (CCAs) such as Entrepreneurship Clubs. Entrepreneurship is similarly promoted in our Post-Secondary Education Institutions where programmes and incubators have been implemented to introduce students to entrepreneurship and provide them with the opportunity to take the first step in starting their own businesses. Additionally, the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) has a youth chapter called EDGE (Empower, Develop and Groom Entrepreneurs), with student representatives from the various IHLs, to rally the schools to promote youth entrepreneurship and encourage aspiring young entrepreneurs.
[1] Some examples of prototypes developed by students include an eyedropper for cataract patients, a product that serves as a reward system for children doing homework (the H-motivator) and a bin to help crush and store cans for recycling (EZ-BIN).
[2] These competitions are organised by external parties such as the Tan Kah Kee Foundation, MoneyTree Singapore and other Government agencies like A*STAR and DSTA. Some examples include the Tan Kah Kee Young Inventors’ Award, National Pushcart Challenge and Innovation, Creative and Enterprise (ICE) Challenge.