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ABOUT 600 students from 20 special schools will get extra financial aid over the next two years to help them stay in school during the economic downturn.
This aid will come from a kitty of $603,000 raised by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) for the purpose.
The NCSS will disburse money to the schools twice a year.
It gave out $150,692 for the individual schools to administer in June.
It had approached transport giants ComfortDelGro and SMRT Corporation and charity foundation CapitaLand Hope Foundation for the money. A fourth source of funds was the Trailblazer-Chan Chiew Ping Fund.
The fund is under the Trailblazer Foundation, a charity chaired by Ms Ho Ching, chief executive of Temasek Holdings.
The late Madam Chan Chiew Ping was Ms Ho's mother.
The fund that the NCSS set up to help needy children attending special schools has since drawn its name from there - the Trailblazer-Chan Chiew Ping Special Schools Fund.
The NCSS conducted a survey in January among special schools.
It found out that about one in 10 of more than 5,000 special school students is in need of extra financial help to cover, among other things, transport and meals.
One beneficiary of the extra financial aid is Zed Noorhazali Zed Sazali, 16, of APSN Tanglin School.
He will get $80 a month from the fund.
His mother, Madam Norhayati Hussain, 38, supports Zed and his two younger siblings from the $300 to $350 she earns monthly from babysitting and $600 in monthly maintenance from her former husband.
She said of the extra money: 'This amount will help in many ways, including buying my son's meals and stationery.'
Grace Orchard School principal Noreen Lim Yeo said about two in 10 of her students were already on the school's financial assistance scheme, but that they could still do with the extra help.
'It will definitely go a long way to alleviate the parents' burden of covering their children's school-related expenses and keeping their children in school,' she said.
ANG YIYING
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
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