LKY bilingualism fund seeking proposals on pre-school learning

The Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualism wants to hear from public on ways to promote bilingualism among children at the pre-school level. 

It's looking for proposals that will help to raise the quality of teaching and learning of the English and Mother Tongue Languages in pre-schools, at home and in the community. 

The fund was first announced at the launch of the book, "My Lifelong Challenge: Singapore's Bilingual Journey", by former Minister Mentor, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, on 28 November 2011. 

It aims to promote bilingual education and supplement efforts by the Ministry of Education (MOE), amidst changes in the home language environment. 

For a start, the fund will focus on initiatives for the pre-school level to build a more supportive language environment for the child. 

The proposals should promote language learning in the context of Singapore. 

They could take the form of teaching and learning resources, programmes, events and research. 

The proposals will be evaluated based on criteria such as relevance, degree of impact and sustainability. 

"We are inviting the public to submit their proposals to promote bilingualism because we believe that schools, parents and community partners play important roles in providing our children with opportunities to be immersed in an environment conducive to the learning of languages," said Minister for Education Heng Swee Keat. 

Mr Heng is also the Chair of the Board of the fund. 

Those who want to share their ideas and proposals can submit them by email toMOE_LKYFB@moe.gov.sg, or by mail and in person to the Ministry of Education at 51, Grange Road. 

Those who submit by 6 September 2012 can expect to have their proposals evaluated and notified of the outcome in the fourth quarter of 2012. 

More information on the Fund Application Guidelines and Application Form is available onwww.bilingualism.sg. 

To date, the Fund has received S$119 million in pledges, including government matching of 1-for-1 donation to the fund, up to a cap of $50 million.