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What exactly is Service-Learning, one might ask? It is a
method of teaching and learning that combines academic classroom curriculum with
meaningful community service. The very phrase signals to us an equal focus on
both the “service” that is being provided, and on the “learning” that is
occurring.
An inaugural event was held at the West Agora of Republic Polytechnic on 25
April 2008 to announce the launch of the first physical set-up in Singapore to
be built specifically for Service-Learning. The Tan Ean Kiam Service-Learning
Centre aims to educate and equip youths to learn and reflect from their
community service experiences both in Singapore and abroad.
The centre, supported by the Tan Ean Kiam foundation through a $200,000 grant,
aspires to train as many as 2,800 students and volunteers to support up to 15
local and eight overseas projects annually.
Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Education & Ministry of
Information, Communications and the Arts, RAdm (NS) Lui Teck Yew graced the
official launch of the learning centre.
The opening of TEKSLRC marks a new milestone for RP since it first started the
service-learning programme in 2005 following the Asian tsunami disaster. The
Service-Learning programme began as an effort for RP’s students to connect
community service and dynamic learning, and have them play an active role in
meeting the needs of the underprivileged. Since 2005, RP students have
successfully implemented more than 25 projects. The focus has now shifted
towards curricular-based Service-Learning projects, where students have the
chance to apply what they have learnt in the classroom to solve real-world
needs.
For example, students from the School of Applied Science
(SAS), together with fellow residents, helped to organise and nurture an organic
garden for elderly residents of one-room flats in the Marsiling area, allowing
them to enjoy a healthy hobby that was not only therapeutic but also allowed
them to enjoy the social company of their neighbours and friends.
Another group of environmental science students also had the opportunity to
apply their final year project in a rural community in Thailand, working with
the village to build a bio-gas reactor that converted elephant dung into bio-gas
as fuel for cooking. This project was so successful that the village has since
used their prototype to develop similar bio-gas reactors for other rural
villages.
With TEKSLRC, RP will continue to explore collaborations with community agencies
to benefit the community while developing our youths through projects in
Singapore and Southeast Asia. Besides being a service-learning training and
resource centre for RP’s staff and students, the TEKSLRC also hopes to cater to
schools and community agencies around the North-West region and of course
nation-wide. A number of local and overseas partners have been identified,
including Man Fut Tong Nursing Home, Sunlove-Marsiling Neighbourhood Link, YMCA
Project Bridge, Prolung Khmer Centre (Cambodia) and the Mirror Art Group
(Thailand). Each Service-Learning project caters up to 20 student participants.
Professor Low Teck Seng, the Principal and CEO of RP,
highlighted his wish for the TEKSLRC to clearly articulate “the objectives as
well as the leadership development potential of service-learning programmes.”
Mr Wilson Ang, Deputy Director, Office of Student and Graduate Affairs noted,
“This is a strategic development for RP as it enables us to reinforce our role
as a hub for service-learning and to strengthen our linkages with social
communities. Our priority is to equip our staff and students with the necessary
skills and knowledge as well as to pass on the learning to our community
partners. We hope that this centre can be a model for other service-learning
centres in the region.”
Fittingly, RAdm (NS) Lui Tuck Yew hopes that the Tan Ean Kiam Service-Learning
Resource Centre will inspire our youth to see the world beyond their classrooms,
serve in these communities and in the process, transform their own lives and the
lives of those whom they serve.
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