THIS is the time of the year when Madam Elizabeth Herring and her family always have trouble making ends meet.

With the start of school just around the corner, the 34-year-old sole breadwinner is facing the prospect of spending at least half of her $1,300 salary on her children's school expenses.

To add to her woes, Madam Herring's husband was jailed in September for five years on a drug-related offence.

But yesterday, her kids were among some 200 students who received book grants from the Industrial and Services Cooperative Society (Iscos).

The cooperative, which offers memberships to those who are about to be released from jail, provides assistance to the families of convicts and helps offenders adjust to life after prison.

Yesterday, Madam Herring's two school-going children, aged 10 and 13, received $250 in book grants.

'We can breathe a little easier, as I can then pay for my other bills and buy more fish and meat for the children,' said Madam Herring, who works as a security officer.

Her children have received about $1,100 in book and stationery grants since her husband, who used to wash cars, became an Iscos member when he was jailed back in 2001.

Since the co-op was set up in 1994, 3,600 students have received $414,000 worth of book grants and nearly a third of them got the grants in the last three years.

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education and Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli handed out the grants yesterday.

He said that educating the young is the 'key to breaking the vicious cycle of drugs, crimes and poverty'.

He added: 'The objective of the book grant scheme is to ensure that the young continue to benefit from education even should their families fall into temporary financial difficulties.'

JERMYN CHOW

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 8 Dec, 2008.