- Share-A-Textbook donation drive extended to 3 Dec 2023, public can now register for distribution drive
Singapore, 24 November 2023 – – FairPrice Group (FPG) has lengthened the donation drive for its Share-A-Textbook initiative to 3 December 2023, to give the public an extended opportunity to donate and upcycle their textbooks and supplementary resources for all students in Singapore. Individuals can sign up to collect second-hand education materials from today onwards.
First launched in 1982, Share-A-Textbook is Singapore’s largest textbook donation drive and one of FPG’s flagship community initiatives for promoting the values of sharing, circularity, and recycling. For four decades, the programme has rallied individuals and families in support of the vulnerable, providing all in Singapore with an avenue to help the community and get the educational materials they need for free.
FPG’s extension of the donation drive this year comes in recognition of the ongoing strain that rising cost of living has placed on families. Alvin Neo, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, FairPrice Group, shared, “Our goal with initiatives like Share-A-Textbook is to give people a channel to meaningfully support those around them in need. Through the programme, FPG stands ready as a social enterprise to complement the government’s efforts in improving the lives of all in Singapore by keeping costs down, and providing opportunities for education and betterment for all students.”
FPG officially kicked off the Share-A-Textbook campaign today with a launch event at the campus of its charity partner, =DREAMS. Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower, attended the launch event as guest of honour, and participated in a panel discussion on nurturing the aspirations of youth with FPG’s Alvin Neo, and Sharon Tay, Board Member, Finance Chair, =DREAMS.
A recent study1 of local pre-school children found a wide disparity in test scores based on the income and education levels of parents. It discovered that children with parents who had higher education or income tended to have better language and numeracy skills, among other findings. The Share-A-Textbook launch event panel discussion explored how this, and other barriers such as access to education materials impact students’ educational journeys, and how society as a whole can further support Singapore’s disadvantaged youth in achieving their goals.
Neo added, “When you factor in ongoing inflation and the rise in cost of living that many Singapore families are grappling with today, the reality is that obtaining even basic necessities like textbooks or supplementary learning materials can become a challenge. In today’s climate of uncertainty, FPG’s mission to help moderate the cost of living for all in Singapore is more crucial than ever before, and that is why programmes like Share-A-Textbook – that help us support the vulnerable in our community – are so important.”
This year, over 2,000 volunteers across the community from corporations such as Trust Bank and Deloitte, local schools, the general public, and FPG pledged their time to sort donated textbooks and supplementary education materials in preparation for the programme’s distribution phase.
The distribution drive will take place from 6 to 10 December 2023 at the =DREAMS campus on 99 Haig Road. From now till 3 December 2023, donors can drop off their books at all FairPrice stores, including FairPirce supermarkets, FairPrice Xtra hypermarkets, FairPrice Finest stores, Warehouse Club, and FairPrice Xpress outlets at Esso service stations – a total of 177 touchpoints in multiple retail formats across Singapore.
For more information, please refer to https://fpg-share-a-textbook.com/ or email [email protected].
1 Source – The Straits Times – https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/study-finds-large-disparities-in-pre-schoolers-test-scores-based-on-parents-income-education