DFC 2011 Inspires Many more Children in Singapore

2011-07-27 12:27
This year’s SoCh-promoted DFC Singapore sees 80 teams, a six times increase in the number since last year.

SINGAPORE, July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ — Social Change in Action (SoCh) is proud to kick off this year’s global program Design for Change (DFC) Challenge that empowers children to recognise social challenges in their community; design & execute their solutions to enact lasting change. With nearly six times the participation compared to last year, this year’s participation has risen sharply, with 80 teams taking part from 27 schools up from 14 teams last year.

SoCh in Action is a registered social enterprise in Singapore and the only authorized organisation to run the internationally-renowned DFC Challenge in Singapore. For more information on SoCh, please visit http://www.SoChinAction.com

DFC is now the World’s Largest Change movement by Children, designed to give children aged 9-14 years old an opportunity to express their own ideas for a better world and put them into action. The global movement currently reaches out to 300,000 schools in 33 countries worldwide. (For more information on DFC, please visit http://www.designforchangecontest.com)

Launched in 2010 in Singapore, SoCh saw a range of social projects done by Singaporean school children aged 9-14 years old. To deepen the engagement of students with their projects and enable them to come up with even better ideas and executable strategies, SoCh introduced a workshop module called CatCh or Catalyst for Change that equipped participating students with skills to creatively design and implement solutions.

Around 450 students have gone through CatCh workshops this year and are designing and executing their own projects currently.

“It is truly inspiring seeing these young people take matters into their own hands and solve problems that would stump even adults,” said Madhu Verma, Founder & Managing Director, SoCh in Action.

“There is nothing that can match the pride and achievement these children feel when they realise that they have managed to make a difference all on their own.”

One of the schools fielding in multiple teams is Raffles Institution.

Lim Yoke Tong, Assistant Head of Dept, Research Education, Raffles Institution, commented: “Doing community work is a way of life among Rafflesians and this DFC and Catch are definitely good platforms for our students!”

“We are proud to have 22 groups of participants for SoCh 2011 programs,” added Cheryl Yap, Head of Dept, Research Education, Raffles Institution. “The students are very excited about initiating changes to their community in whatever capacity that they can.”

Amongst the 26 schools are Telok Kurau Primary, Pasir Ris Primary, Damai Secondary, Northland Primary, Sembawang Secondary, Shuqun Primary, Unity Secondary, and Zhangde Primary to name a few.

Entries will be judged by local panel of judges and experiential prizes will be awarded to five outstanding projects under various categories. All the participants will also get an opportunity to exhibit their work at the ‘Be the Change’ Exposition in October this year.

The details of the venue and the time of the exposition will be revealed soon.

SoCh in Action designs and implements various programs and events for the community to be involved in the social change process. Its belief is that anyone can be a change-maker; through new thoughts, simple beliefs and small actions. For partnership opportunities write to Madhu Verma at madhu@SoChinAction.com. For more details visit http://www.SoChinAction.com

Press Contacts
Donna Garcia / John Tan
Rice Communications for Design For Change Singapore
Tel.: +65-6221-8045 / 8729
Email: donna.garcia@ricecomms.com / john.tan@ricecomms.com
SOURCE　Social Change in Action