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Frequently Asked Questions
Funding
Programmes
Family Resource
Service Provider / SFE Coordinator
Others
FUNDING
Q: Clarification on new guidelines for reimbursements - Why are they needed? *NEW*
A: This is to ensure that we provide quality speakers and programmes for the SFE target groups. Schools should ensure that speakers/ trainers/ facilitators have the necessary credentials to conduct the programmes to the best interests of the target groups.
Q: Is it necessary to submit CVs for external speakers from private organisations, VWOs, government agencies (e.g. HPB)? What about school staff? *NEW*
A: We need CVs for all speakers including those from goverment agencies and parent facilitators. For parent facilitators, they should have taken the parent facilitator course, or any form of courses/classes that equip them with skills as facilitators. Just a simple profile will do.
We only do not require CVs for school staff as MOE should have already done their background check.
Q: How much flexibility/leeway do schools have in the utilisation/application of funds on family life education (FLE) programmes provided by MCYS?
A: Schools will appoint service providers to help oversee the planning and
implementation of the SFE programme. MCYS provides a maximum yearly funding of $20,000 for the first year, $15,000 for the second year and $10,000 for the third year and for the implementation of FLE programmes to the 3 target groups. Schools, in consultation with their appointed service providers, will plan and decide on the various FLE programmes for implementation. A list of suggested topics can be found at page 18 of the manual. The list is, however, not exhaustive, and schools are encouraged to develop programmes that will meet the needs of their target groups.
Q: Can schools roll over unused fund from one year to the following year?
A: MCYS provides funds for the implementation of FLE programmes on a yearly basis according to financial year – e.g., from April 2005 to March 2006. The amount allocated by MCYS must be used for the approved financial year and will not be allowed to be brought forward to the next financial year. No additional funding will be provided to schools that exceed the allocated amount for any financial year. Schools have to look for other sources of funding if they want to do more than what have been allocated by MCYS.
Q: What happen after the 3-year funding by MCYS?
A: MCYS has decide to extend the SFE fund to another 3 years. Beyond the 3rd year, SFE schools may opt to continue the programme for another 3 years. The funding will be provided to SFE schools at a maximum quantum of $10,000 per year for 100 hours of programmes from the 4th year onwards. In addition, 4th year & beyond SFE schools will be given an SFE Coordinator Fund of $5,000 per year with effect from 1 April 2009. This is over and above the yearly programme funding of $10,000. However, funding beyond the 3 years is subject to review, as schools are encouraged to work towards self sustainability in the longer term. Trained parent volunteers and PSG/PTA will be encouraged to take on the coordination role if there is no funding for SFE coordinator beyond the period. Furthermore, MCYS will continue to provide training, support and guidance to schools to achieve the desired outcomes. SFE schools in the 4th year onwards are required to meet the following MCYS’ output indicators to secure funding for subsequent years.
Output Indicators
|
For parents |
For school staff |
For students |
| (a) |
No. of hours of family life education programmes organised for parents/school staff
70 hours |
No. of hours of family life education programmes organised for Parent/school staff
70 hours |
No. of hours of family life education programmes organised for students
30 hours
|
| (b) |
Percentage of parent participants
1st year -
30%
2nd year (cumulative) - 40%
3rd year (cumulative) - 60%
4th year & beyond (cumulative) -
75%
|
Percentage of school staff participants
100% |
Percentage of student participants
100% |
Q: Can the SFE funds be used for school programmes/activities?
A: MCYS funds FLE programmes over and above the school programmes. However, for complimentary programmes conducted by schools, such as the principal giving an assembly talk on family communication, the time taken can be clocked into the family life education hours and the participants can also be included as part of the SFE outreach. Schools will need to include these programmes in the monthly reimbursement & evaluation forms and put “o” (zero) or FOC under the “Total cost to be reimbursed by MCYS” column.
Q: What about volunteer/community programmes?
A: Such programmes, also known as service learning programmes, should involve the participation of BOTH children/students AND their parent/grandparents /sibling. Such programmes will provide the opportunity for family members to learn values as a family and bond through serving the community.
Q: Does the monthly reimbursement for the FLE programmes and the SFE coordinator go into the school or the service provider’s bank account?
A: MCYS will reimburse the funds for FLE programmes and SFE Coordinator directly to the service providers. However, schools must ensure that all the invoices/receipts are verified and certified correct (with signature of principal or nominated officer and the school stamp) before they reach MCYS (or its appointed agent) for reimbursement.
Q: Is there a limit on the cost of particular items to be claimed?
A: No limit is placed on the cost of particular items as long as the programmes pertain to family education and have the principal/nominated person’s endorsement.
Q: What happens if a school does not fulfil the 100 hours of family life education programmes?
A: With creativity and commitment, most schools have no problem fulfilling the family life education hours. In cases where this is not fulfilled, the funding will be prorated accordingly. For example, if 80 hours of programmes are conducted at the end of the FY in the first year, instead of $20,000, the school will only get $16,000.
Q: What are the documents needed for reimbursement and where should they be submitted to? *UPDATED*
A: The following should be submitted together for reimbursement by the service providers:
• Cover letter signed by head of service provider with organisation letterhead or stamp
• Monthly reimbursement & evaluation form(s)
i. Speaker/ Trainer/ Facilitator Profiles / CVs;
ii. Speaker Notes/ Programme Handouts;
iii. Feedback by Participants (Summary of workshop evaluation form or Programme short report);
iv. Event Photograph;
v. Original invoices/ receipts. (If photocopied, please ensure it's certified true copy, signed by school staff, and bears the school’s stamp. Stamp and signature needs to be original and not photocopied); and
vi. Publicity materials (if any).
• Letter for SFE Coordinator hours
All these documents must bear the name & signature of Principal or nominated staff, and school stamp.
All submissions for SFE reimbursement should be sent to:
Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
Family Education Department
510 Thomson Road
#01-00 SLF Building
Singapore 298135
Attention: SFE Programme Coordinator
For the full details of reimbursement processing, please download the guidelines and standard forms/ templates from the SFE website at www.sfe.sg. Click on the link “Administration”. Failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in delay in reimbursement payment.
Q: Can figures in SFE reimbursement claims be rounded up or down?
A: There should not be rounding up/down of figures in SFE reimbursement claims.
Q: Submissions with many errors
A: If a claims submission package is found to have many errors, the coordinator will be asked to take the entire claims package back for correcting/adjusting. Resubmission should then be made after errors have been duly corrected. In which case, the date of submission will be altered to that of the resubmission.
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PROGRAMMES
Q: My school is also in the Fathers@Schools Programme. Can I claim the programme under SFE Funds and/or Hours too? *NEW*
A: If the school is tapping on the Fathers@School funding, this programme cannot be clocked in under the SFE programme. Please note that no double claiming will be allowed, i.e. the school can only claim for the fathers’ talk/activity (and clock hours) either under Fathers@Schools or SFE, but not both.
Q: Can I clock in a full day's programme under the SFE hours? *NEW*
A: For any programme that is 4 hours or less, we will clock the programme hours entirely.
For e.g., a father-son soccer that comes with talk/debrief that last for 4 hours, the school may clock in the entire 4 hours. For programmes that exceed 4 hours, e.g., father-son camp which lasts for 2 full days, please email the detailed programme outline to mcys_sfe@mcys.gov.sg and MCYS will decide the duration that can be clocked in.
Q: The same 4-hour workshop is conducted for 8 groups. Is it considered a 4 hour workshop or a 32 hour workshop? *NEW*
A: The workshop will be considered seperate sessions as long as the audience is different. Hence, for programmes that are repeated either on same or different days, we consider them as separate, i.e., 4 X 8 hours.
Q: Can I claim SFE funds and programme hours for family life education programmes organised by community or external partners (eg., VWOs, NTUC, SAFRA, NLB etc)? *NEW*
A: You can only claim under SFE funding and hours if it is a school programme (organised by the school) and you have engaged the service provider to run the programme in your school. If it is a community based programme, you cannot claim it under SFE. Only programmes that have this liner are claimable: “As this is a MCYS-supported programme, SFE schools may clock in the parent programme hours and claim funds under SFE.”
Q: If the programme is organized/ supported by MCYS and has the MCYS logo in its publicity materials, does it mean that I can consider it SFE programme and claim SFE funds and hours? *NEW*
A: We have many departments in the ministry that organise programmes but these may not meet SFE objectives. As far as MCYS programmes go, we only support the Singapore Parenting Congress and Marriage Convention under the SFE programme. There are of course other ad-hoc new programmes that we introduce to the SFE schools. We will state these in the SFE e-newsletter and the website.
Q: Can FLE programmes include parent–child camp or other family bonding activities? How about normal camps like Superkid camp programme?
A: Family bonding activities can be included as part of FLE programmes but there should be some educational components. Schools and service providers should also plan their year-long activities carefully such that the schools can fulfill the 100 hours of FLE programmes without busting the allocated funding.
The breakdown of the camp activities with time period should be furnished for every camp programme. Activities that are being claimed should be clearly indicated.
Non-claimable programme items include breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Q: Meet-the-parent sessions
A: Schools organized family life education talks to reach out to the parents during the Meet-the-parents session, Parent Orientation for new students and Family Day as these are occasions where there are large catchment of parents. We encourage school to engage family life education speakers to deliver talks/ workshops/ activities to the parents. School principals who are eloquent and experienced in talking about family life issues may also share parenting/marriage/family values tips with the parents. Schools can clock in the hours of these talks/ workshops/activities and tap on SFE funds.
We do not encourage or advise school to get teachers to disseminate family life messages to the parents on one-on-one basis during these events as they are not trained in delivering family life education and it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness.
Q: What are some of the programmes not supported by SFE Funding?
A: The following are some of the programmes that are not supported under the SFE funding by MCYS:
| Programmes |
Reason(s) for Non-support |
| Religious content in any of the SFE programmes/activities |
They do not meet the SFE objectives |
| Sexuality education and boy-girl relationship programmes, which are organized for students only |
- This is to avoid duplication with the ‘Growing Years’ series developed by the Ministry of Education
- However, sexuality talks conducted for parent(s) / parent facilitator(s) can be supported under SFE.
|
Academic and training-related, such as IT courses or how to improve mathematics.
Programmes to help teachers teach/manage their students better
E.g. ‘ Dealing with Difficult Parents’, ‘Teaching Special Needs Children’, ‘How to help ADHD students’ They do not meet the SFE objectives |
They do not meet the SFE objectives
These programmes enhance the participant’s role as a teacher but they are not carried out specifically to meet the SFE objectives |
- Health-specific programmes, such as yoga, line-dancing, heart health, aromatherapy, etc.
- Stress management programmes (if non-holistic)
|
Not supported if the programmes are health-specific. Stress management programmes must be holistic in nature and aim to provide participants with coping skills such as managing time, balancing work and family, relaxing techniques, etc |
| Staff retreat which are organized to foster peer bonding |
If the main objective is to foster peer bonding, it should be a school programme. School programmes are not supported under SFE scheme. For staff retreats to be supported under the SFE scheme, there should be learning points for the participants to bring back to enhance their family life, such as work-life balance.
|
| Service learning programmes (i.e. volunteer/community programmes) which involves only students |
Not supported unless they involve the participation of both children/students and their parents/grandparents /siblings. Such programmes are meant to provide the opportunity for family members to learn values as a family and bond through serving the community.
|
Q: What do you mean by social and recreational hours under the SFE framework?
A: Programmes that are not family life education but family-related and where parents benefit from having better parent-child relationships and being more family oriented can be supported under the SFE social and recreation programme.
These SFE social and recreational hours should not take up more than 10 hours of the 70 hours of family life education programmes. All SFE social and recreation programmes MUST involve parent participation.
Q: 10 out of 70 hours are not sufficient for social and recreation programmes for the parents.
A: The objective of carving out 10 hours for social and recreational activities is to incentivise parents to participate in SFE. Once they are brought into the programme, they are more likely to be keen on other SFE programmes. The rest of the 60 hours of educational programmes need not be all sit-down talks. The programmes can be interactive, experiential and fun, depending on the creativity of the school and the service providers. As long as the participant learnt something at the end of the activity about being a better family member or acquire skills to improve their family life, MCYS will consider supporting the programmes.
Q: How do I clock in if the programme organized consists of family life education and social and recreational activities?
A: School will still clock in the family life education under core programme hours and the rest under social/recreation hours
Q: How do I clock in SFE hours and outreach if two SFE schools jointly conduct a programme?
A: When two schools jointly conduct a SFE programme, both schools can clock in the SFE hours in their respective reports. However for the participant figures, each school would take only their registered attendees as the outreach figures. There should also not be any duplication of fund claims.
Q: Can family life education programmes delivered by school staff on a one-on-one basis be allowed under SFE funding?
A: Family life messages disseminated on a one-on-one basis by teachers to parents are not encouraged as the teachers are not trained in delivering family life education in this format and it is difficult to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme.
Q: Can principals or teachers deliver talks on family related programmes and be clocked as part of SFE programmes?
A: Schools are encouraged to engage family life education speakers to deliver talks /workshops/activities to the parents at the Parent Teacher Dialogue/Meet-the-Parent Session.
School principals or teachers who are eloquent and experienced in talking about family issues may also share parenting / marriage / family values tips with the parents.
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FAMILY RESOURCE
Q: There is already a family resource area in my school. Does this automatically qualify us for SFE?
A: Having an existing family resource area in the school does not automatically qualify the school for SFE. It has to meet the selection criteria as stipulated in page 16 of the manual. The family resource area is one of the two features under SFE. MCYS will also need to assess how the school would implement FLE programmes to the 3 target groups. The school can apply to MCYS to be on the programme by logging on to www.sfe.sg and answering a few questions. MCYS will assess the application and respond to the school accordingly.
Q: Can school utilize SFE funds to purchase Family Resource Materials for Family Life Centre/Corner? *Updated*
A: Schools which have completed the 100 hours of family life education programmes for the financial year is allowed to use the leftover funds for this purpose, at a cap of $1,000. However, please ensure that only family resource materials are purchased. Counselling or academic materials are not supported. Schools can email the list to mcys_sfe@mcys.gov.sg if they are unsire if the contents are supported.
Q: Is there a list of compulsory resource materials for the family resource area? Don’t schools have a say in the selection of these resource materials?
A: The setting up of the family resource area should be done in collaboration with the service provider appointed by the school. In selecting materials, both parties need to understand the profile of the different target groups and cater to their needs accordingly. There is no fixed list of materials to be purchased, but they must be related to family life. MCYS will also provide SFE schools with family resource materials produced by MCYS.
Q: Must the school set aside a room to be renovated as the Family Resource Area? Can it be a corner or a space within the school compound?
A: MCYS no longer requires SFE schools to have a room to be set up as a family resource area although it is a bonus if the school could carve out a space for it. However, SFE schools must ensure that SFE information could be easily disseminated to target groups and parents are able to access family-related reading materials.
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SERVICE PROVIDER / SFE COORDINATOR
Q: Who hires the SFE coordinator? The school or the service provider?
A: It is highly recommended that schools appoint service providers to work with, and that service providers be responsible for the recruitment of the coordinators. Service providers will be able to select suitable candidates and closely supervise them in their roles as coordinators.
Q: Is geographical location a consideration in the match between service providers and schools?
A: Schools are free to choose any service providers (see recommendation at page 13 of the manual) regardless of their locations. It is highly recommended that schools engage a service provider that has experience in FLE programmes. However, for ease of operations, schools may want to consider service providers in the vicinity.
Q: Can schools engage more than 1 service provider?
A: Schools should engage only one service provider who will be accountable for SFE. The service provider appointed can include other service providers (with approval from schools) in the year-long implementation of SFE if the appointed service provider feels that having other partners would help make FLE in the school stronger and better.
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OTHERS
Q: Can FLE programmes be in vernacular languages?
A: Schools should always do needs assessment of its target audiences before planning the FLE programmes with the appointed service providers so as to better meet their needs. It is best to deliver FLE programmes in languages understood by the target groups. If schools determine that there is a need for FLE programmes to be conducted in vernacular languages, schools should make such provisions as this would help extend outreach of FLE to more people. This would allow more people to gain from the positive impact of SFE in schools.
Q: How many runs of parent facilitators training will MCYS fund in a year?
A: Currently, we plan to run four classes a year of each of the Parent Facilitators Training Module One and Two with a class size of 25-30 people. We will however, consider having more classes if there is a demand.
Q: How many parents can each school send for the Parent Facilitator Course? Is the Chinese Class available?
A: Each school can send a maximum of four people per year. However, schools which have more interested parents may send their names to be put on the waiting list. If there are vacancies, those in the waiting list can join the class. The Chinese class is available and will be opened if there is a demand.
Q: Are the SFE programmes/activities only opened to the parents of the school? Can it be opened to the public?
A: Although the SFE programmes are only meant for the target audiences of the SFE schools, we leave it to schools to extend the programmes to other parents who are not from the schools. Schools may also include the participation of these parents as part of their outreach indicators.
Q: Parents from Primary Schools are more enthusiastic about SFE activities than their Secondary School counterparts, so the participation for parents in this latter group will not be as good.
A: This is generally true as most parents with younger children tend to be more concerned about their developing children while parents of teens deem their children to be less dependent. However, the teenage years can be very turbulent and teens face many challenges that will require mentoring. Parents need to be reminded that they are the best mentors for their teenage children.
Q: For mass talks that involve hundreds of participation, must we collate the feedback forms from all participants?
A: The purpose of collating feedback forms is so that schools can evaluate the effectiveness of the programmes conducted and enhance future programmes. For mass talks, schools only need to get a sample size of at least 40-50 to complete the feedback forms.
Q: Must evaluation forms be collected for all programmes?
A: In cases where evaluation forms is not possible, a short report would be required.
Q: For programmes that stretch for weeks or months, can we do the feedback at the end of the whole programme or must the participants complete the feedback forms at the end of every session?
A: If the participants are the same, feedback can be collected at the end of the programme.
Q: How do schools know the actual outreach of parents when what we are measuring is participation?
A: With schools' support and enthusiasm, we are happy that the participation rate of SFE has remained high. However, in order to further measure the impact of SFE, we need to find out the actual number of people who have benefitted from SFE. We have incorporated the measurement of actual outreach in the monthly reimbursement & evaluation form. Please use the latest form starting from your next submissions. We hope that schools will continue to track the actual number of people reached by providing the necessary information, such as the parents' listing (only names are needed) to the SFE coordinator or relevant administrative staff collating the figures.
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