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More than 10,000 parents and children from the Malay/Muslim community have received help in the past five years from a programme to prepare for Primary 1, particularly in mathematics. KelasMateMatika (KMM), a programme by community self-help group Mendaki, was piloted in 2018 to help children aged four to six. Parents also attend the classes as part of the initiative to learn skills and gain confidence in teaching their children numeracy concepts early in their daily life.
A study by Mendaki’s Programme Evaluation Office in 2022 had shown that eight in 10 children who attended the KMM programme did not require learning support in Primary 1. Pupils identified in Primary 1 to be weaker in certain subjects, particularly mathematics and English language, attend a learning support programme in smaller groups. The 10,000 beneficiaries of KMM are among the more than 400,000 individuals in the Malay/Muslim community who have benefited from Mendaki programmes in the past five years.
Housewife Khairunisa Salim, 33, and her husband Muhammad Nassier, 37, enrolled their elder son in KMM in February 2023 after receiving a flier about the programme. FairPrice Group donates $40,000 to Mendaki The mother of two said: “I thought it was a good opportunity for us parents to have a head start on how to teach our children. I do have discussions with my husband and make it a point that if our child asks questions with regard to schoolwork or anything in general, we should be able to guide them with the basic answers.
“Children are inquisitive by nature, and I believe that the first teachers are the parents themselves. It is important for us to model that, especially in their early years.” Her elder son is now a Primary 1 pupil in Chongzheng Primary School, and does not need learning support.
The couple will be enrolling their younger son in KMM when he turns four. The updated KMM enrolment figures were given as part of a five-year update of M3 – a collaboration between the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, Mendaki and the People’s Association Malay Activity Executive Committees Council – on Oct 9 to the media. Senior Minister of State for Manpower and Mendaki deputy chairman Zaqy Mohamad said at the media briefing that Mendaki has seen more Malay/Muslim professionals coming forward to contribute their time, talent and treasure to the community, and encouraged more to step forward.
Currently, more than 1,000 professionals are actively volunteering in various Mendaki and M3 initiatives, including mentoring. For instance, young people receive mentoring and tap internship opportunities through 13 professional networks. Mayor of South East District Mohd Fahmi Aliman said one of the focus areas of M3 is on employment and employability issues.
Under an agreement Mendaki signed with NTUC in February 2022, job seekers are referred to NTUC LearningHub and the Employment and Employability Institute for training and job placement programmes. About 15,000 individuals have benefited to date. Another programme, Women@Work, aims to support and mentor women in the Malay/Muslim community and help them remain competitive and gain employment.
Between 2019 and 2023, about 500 women graduated from the programme. Mr Fahmi added: “We are not only helping them secure meaningful employment, but also enabling lifelong career growth and resilience in an ever-changing economy.”.
