This section lays out the operational procedures that SCFA Administrator Student Care Centres (SCCs) should follow in different scenarios:
Note: The ComCare Student Care Subsidies scheme is also known as the Student Care Fee Assistance (SCFA) scheme.
1. The SCFA Scheme provides fee assistance for children from lower-income working1 families who enrol in SCFA Administrator Student Care Centres (SCCs). Under the SCFA Scheme, successful applicants are provided a monthly Subsidy and SUG (if eligible) which MSF disburses directly to the SCC. SUG Deposit (equivalent to one month’s fees) shall be held by MSF and disbursed to the SCC if the student withdraws without providing 1 month’s notice). The SCC deducts the Subsidy against the SCC monthly fees. The amount of the Subsidy is determined based on the monthly gross household/per capita income of the family. With effect from 1 July 2020, families with a gross Household Income of up to $4,500, or a gross Per Capita Income of up to $1,125 (for families with five or more family members) are eligible to apply for the Subsidy.
2. When you are successfully registered as an SCFA Administrator, you are required to:
Calculation of student's monthly attendance rate and procedure for refund of overpayment to MSF | Read the PDF document |
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Timeframe for Refund to MSF | The refund must reach MSF within the next calendar month. For example, if the student did not meet 30% / 50% attendance level requirement for the month of February, the SCC’s refund should reach SCFA/SDD before the end of March. |
Documentary trail for audit purposes | A copy of the refund bank transfer, a detailed list of students in the SCFA Refunds to MSF (to be filled in by SCCs) and the hardcopy letter/email should be filed for audit purposes. |
3. The Ministry has also published a set of guidelines for operators running SCCs. We strongly advise SCFA Administrators to read through these guidelines, as it contains valuable resources which will aid the operation of the centre. Please refer to the document titled “Guidelines for Student Care Centres”
4. Please note that SCFA administrators are required to meet a stipulated list of minimum requirements and are subjected to audit checks to assess their suitability to continue administering the SCFA subsidies. Please refer to the SCFA administrator guidelines for more details.
5. To submit SCFA subsidy applications for individual students, please refer to the following URL for the relevant MSF contact points to send the application form to: Contact points for submission of ComCare Student Care subsidies (SCFA subsidy) application forms
1. If you are taking over the operation of an existing SCFA administrator SCC and wish to be registered as an SCFA administrator as well, you must:
2. In the event that you as the new operator have taken over some students on SCFA scheme, you have to re-submit Sections I, VIII, IX & X of the SCFA subsidy application form for each student (whose SCFA’s duration has not expired). Thereafter, please email these forms to SCFA/SDD (Email: MSF_Comcare_SCFA@msf.gov.sg). This procedure only involves you, being the new SCFA Administrator, and will not require the parents/guardians’ participation or signature. The said form can be downloaded from the webpage Checklist and Application forms for ComCare Student Care subsidies (SCFA subsidy).
3. If there are new Start-Up Grant (SUG) components needed (i.e. new uniform, insurance, deposit or registration fee), transiting parents/guardians will be able to claim SUG again (only for those who are currently using their first SUG in this centre). This procedure only involves you, being the new SCFA Administrator, and will not require the parents/guardians’ participation or signature, as the SUG component is captured in Section VIII of the form that you will be resubmitting.
1. If you are withdrawing your centre as SCFA Administrator, please email MSF (respective SCO / MSF_Student_Care@msf.gov.sg and SCFA Team (MSF_ComCare_SCFA@msf.gov.sg)), and affected parents/guardians in writing, at least 3 months in advance.
For school-based Student Care Centre (SCCs): Steps to be taken prior to expiration of contract
1. Operators of school-based SCCs are selected through an open procurement process to operate the centre for a certain contractual period. Prior to the end of the contractual period, schools will embark on another cycle of open procurement to select an operator for the next contractual period.
2. If you are a school-based SCFA Administrator SCC with a contract that is due to expire in 3 months, you should take the following steps:
3. If you will be handing over the centre to a new operator, please work with the parents/guardians and the new operator to facilitate a smooth transition. This includes settling matters involving the refund of deposit to parents/guardians and the transfer of SCFA subsidy cases to the new operator.
1. In the event that a student receiving SCFA were to exhibit signs of poor attendance at the SCC (e.g. not able to achieve at least 30% / 50% attendance in a month), the centre is advised not to terminate the student as the first resort. Instead, the centre should do the following:
For students who are receiving case management by a social worker or support from a school counsellor:
2. If student’s attendance at the SCC still falls below the 30% / 50% rate despite all efforts made, and the centre decides to terminate student’s enrolment, the centre needs to carry out the following procedure:
3. The withdrawal form can only be submitted one month from the date of the notice provided to parent/guardian, i.e. after the one-calendar-month notice period given to parents/guardians. This is to enable the centre to have a full month’s attendance record confirmation that the student did not meet the minimum 30% / 50% attendance requirement despite the notice letter issued by the centre. Centre may request for refund of deposit (if SUG is approved in the same subsidy period) by indicating in the withdrawal form.
4. The centre is to refund the SCFA subsidies for those month(s) which the student did not meet the 30% / 50% attendance requirement.
5. Please refer to the table below for details on refund procedures.
Calculation of student's monthly attendance rate and procedure for refund of overpayment to MSF | Read the PDF document |
Timeframe for Refund to MSF | The refund must reach MSF within the next calendar month. For example, if the student did not meet 30% / 50% attendance level requirement for the month of February, the SCC’s refund should reach SCFA/SDD before the end of March. |
Documentary trail for audit purposes | A copy of the refund bank transfer, a detailed list of students in the SCFA Refunds to MSF (to be filled in by SCCs) and the hardcopy letter/email should be filed for audit purposes. |
Footnotes:
1 If either parent/legal guardian is not working, he or she must be looking for work, on medical leave, incarcerated, a certified full-time caregiver for a dependent, or have other valid reasons. The applicant must provide relevant supporting documents.
2 Valid reasons that can be considered are: when the child (a) has valid MC, (b) engages in school activities outside of the centre (e.g. co-curricular activities, supplementary classes, training for sports and national tournaments), (c) engages in enrichment activities organised by SSAs outside of the centre (e.g. tuition classes), and (d) is travelling overseas.