Preparing to Enter a Most Meaningful Profession

Congrats to our 12 recipients!

Muhammad Khairul Nizzam Bin Mazlan, a first-year Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work) student has a special heart for young children. His love for children was sparked off when as a lad in secondary school, he helped his uncle who ran a centre for children with special needs.


Said Khairul, “I enjoyed interacting with the children, who were 7 to 12 years old. So from young, I have always had this strong interest to want to help others. It is my way of giving back to society.”

Khairul was delighted when he became one of the 12 first-year Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work) students to receive the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) Social Work Associate Training Sponsorship. This sponsorship is given by NCSS, with the support of the Ministry for Community Development, Youth and Sports. The students received their sponsorships from Ms Ang Bee Lian, CEO of NCSS during a ceremony on 12 July 2011.

The sponsorship covers tuition fees, other compulsory fees and an allowance for books and reference materials for their three years of study. Upon graduation, students would work for a year with a Voluntary Welfare Organisation under the NCSS.

Khairul and Winsome feel that this sponsorship would motivate them to do well.

Another recipient of the training sponsorship is Winsome Foo. Winsome, who will be attached to a Student Advisory Centre when she graduates, is looking forward to her new workplace. She said, “There is nothing like being there on the ground, helping people and being able to directly apply the skills that my NYP lecturers have taught me.”

Both Khairul and Winsome felt that receiving this training sponsorship would motivate them to excel in their studies.

At the award presentation ceremony, Ms Ang Bee Lian interacted with the students and gave them much encouragement. She said, “You will be in a growth industry when you graduate. And the social work profession would be a most meaningful profession for you to enter; one which will have long-term impact.”

NYP’s Diploma in Social Sciences (Social Work) course is a relatively new course which started in 2010. This course aims to train Social Work Associates to meet the increasing manpower needs of the social service and healthcare sectors in Singapore. The 12 students who received the NCSS Social Work Associate Training Sponsorship form the second batch of students who had attained these awards.