Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manifesto NUSTLS Singapore Tamil Youth Conference 2016 Manif | Page 85

Issue 14: Instilling Community Work Amongst Tamil Community
Post-Panel Discussion
How can we get our Tamil community, especially the youths, to engage in community
work?
Recommendation 1: Inclusion of Community Work into School Curriculum
• Many youths felt that they lacked adequate knowledge about the community work scene
in Singapore.
• Include a curriculum (one period weekly) where the students are taught about the
various communities and beneficiaries in Singapore, the challenges these groups
encounter and the importance of giving back to society from young.
• Organise group community programmes for student classes and provide the option of
including parents in these programmes to create a greater understanding for the need of
community work. Consider activities where the students can have direct contact with the
beneficiaries or allow for empathy for the beneficiaries e.g. Dine in the Dark.
Recommendation 2: Altering the Focus of Project Work in Junior Colleges
• All Junior College (JC) students are required to complete one year of Project Work (PW)
where they will engage in extensive research, report creation and presentations.
• Consider giving topics related to Community Work in PW to get the youths thinking about
challenges/issues that the community faces.
• There can be an option where youths can choose the type of community work project
which they would like to research on, to give them greater ownership and a stronger
sense of motivation.
• Also, viable solutions that are suggested through PW can be identified and executed by
the school.
• Recommendation 3: Involvement of Family in Community Work
• A sizeable number of youths sited that families tended to have negative mindsets about
regular volunteering.
• Organise ‘Family Day’ events where the family can engage in community work, instead of
just games and fun. If the family enjoys the activity, they can consider volunteering long-
term.
• Encourage having the ‘buddy system’ here where two friends can bring their families and
they get to engage in these activities together.
Recommendation 4: Initiation of CIP 2.0
• Initiate CIP 2.0 to review the fundamentals of the current CIP programmes
• This can be done by engaging tertiary community work/CIP clubs to look into CIP
programmes in secondary schools and devise strategies to motivate students to engage in
CIP in a more sustainable fashion as well as gradually change negative mindsets about
community work.
Issue 14: Instilling Community Work Amongst Tamil Community
PAGE 85