Looking To The Future – Engaging Our Youth

Of course, we cannot forget about our youths! The bright young minds that REACH had engaged with, both online and offline, shared their opinions about topics close to their hearts such as the Singapore that they wish to live in, and how they envision their lives to be. 

Youth engagements

REACH reached out to students at their school campuses to gather their views and sentiments on issues such as life aspirations, race and religion, mental health, adulting challenges and the education system in Singapore. These were organised through collaborations with institutions such as Institutes of Technical Education (ITEs), polytechnics, National Institute of Education (NIE), School of the Arts, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Hwa Chong Institution and Saint Andrew’s Junior College.

REACH also partnered Varsity Voices to organise a dialogue for students from Institutes of Higher Learning, who are transiting from school to the workplace, on the impact of artificial intelligence on learning and at work.

Our REACH Youth Advisory Panel members also worked closely with us to organise dialogues for their schoolmates. These included the REACH-Polytechnic-ITE Joint Forum on cost of living, REACH@NIE Dialogue on Fostering Mental Health in Education, and the Un(i)filtered series with Friendzone on redefining success with Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore University of Technology and Design and Singapore Institute of Technology.

Singapore Model Parliament (SMP) 

The SMP is REACH’s flagship youth programme, and it returned for the ninth time this year with 120 youths from junior colleges, polytechnics, ITEs, universities, and even National Servicemen! The highlight of SMP 2023 was a rigorous debate in Parliament House on how we could build a more inclusive and resilient Singapore, touching on topics like social inclusivity, economic mobility, and environmental protection.

Prior to the debate, the participants spent a weekend learning about the trade-offs involved in policymaking and our Parliamentary system through workshops and dialogues with political office holders.