Parents

School Family Education Programme (SFE)

Welcome to the School Family Education Programme (SFE) 

Background

• School Family Education (SFE) is one of the recommendations of Family Matters! Singapore (FM!S) [previously known as Public Education Committee on Family 9PEC)].

• SFE adopts a holistic family learning model - equipping parents with effective parenting skills and training them to be parent facilitators, helping school staff to enhance their family life, and providing students with life skills training.

• The parent-child relationship has much impact on the child’s academic achievements and positive attitudes/ behaviour, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/ racial background or parents’ education level.

• With support from North West, South East and South West CDCs, and Fei Yue Counselling Centre, SFE was launched by Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, then Acting Minister for Community Development and Sports on 15 April 2002. SFE has been well received by parents and participating schools. Since 2002, it has reached out to more than 100, 000 people. As at 2005, there are 80 schools in the SFE programme.

Objectives

SFE aims to enhance the quality of family life by making family life education resources easily available to parents, students, teachers and other school staff through the setting up of a family resource area and provision of family life education programmes. SFE is a programme aimed at holistic development of individuals and families, and seeks to impact the target groups in the following ways: 

For parents 

• Positive and effective parenting skills, which promote better parent-child understanding and improve parent-child relationship

• Positive and effective marital relationship skills, which promote better spousal understanding and relationship

For school staff 

• Balancing work and home

• Enhancing family life, which will translate into higher productivity for the school

• Imbuing them with positive attitudes towards family, marriage and parenthood (for the singles)

• Positive and effective parenting skills, which will better parent-child understanding and improve parent-child relationship

For students 

• Life skills to empower and aid them in coping with life’s demands

• Imbuing them with positive values and attitudes towards family, relationships and life in general

Features 

1. Family Learning
A family that learns together, grows together. Such opportunities should include life skills training for children, workshops on parenting and marriage enrichment, family camps and parent-child interactive activities that promote better parent-child understanding. 

2. Training Parents to be Facilitators
Under SFE, parent volunteers are trained to become parent facilitators. They will provide guidance to other parents and help to facilitate workshops and support groups that aim to impart positive parenting skills. 

3. School Staff’s family Wellness
School staff are also members of families. SFE will provide them with life skills to help them better manage work and family life. Enhanced family life will translate into higher productivity for the school. 

4. Students’ Life Skills Training
SFE empowers students with effective life skills and positive values to empower them in their relationships with others, and thereby facilitate their growth into responsible adults.