Some 200,000 used textbooks donated to needy children
By Hetty Musfirah, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 05 December 2009 1805 hrs

	Photos  of

SINGAPORE: With the new school term starting in a month's time, 11,500 low-income students and their families were invited to collect some 200,000 used textbooks donated by the public on Saturday.

Like many others, Norzila Mohd Akil turned up at 6.30am at a collection centre at Yio Chu Kang Secondary School and waited patiently in line to collect used textbooks.

"I was afraid that if I turned up late, there would be a long queue and I was afraid the books would be gone. My husband earns very little, so getting books like these is good," said Madam Norzila, a housewife.

Needy students and their families were given 15 minutes to select second-hand books. The NTUC FairPrice Used Textbooks Project collected 30 per cent more books from the public this year, after it made an appeal.

Seng Han Thong, Member of Parliament for Yio Chu Kang, commended the programme on Saturday and said it not only helps the poor and the needy, but also saves resources in the process.

Angela Soo, deputy director, corporate communications, NTUC FairPrice, said: "With all the publicity, the public knows about this project more, so they really came forward over the last weekend to donate the books.

"This is also very good because this year, we have 30 per cent more students who have registered under the priority collection scheme. This bigger number of textbooks collected will be able to meet the needs of the students."

Members of the public can collect the free textbooks from Monday, between 9am and 5pm, at six locations – Yio Chu Kang Secondary School, St. Anthony Canossian Secondary School, Nanyang Junior College, Changkat Changi Secondary School, Shuqun Secondary School and Bukit Batok Secondary School.


- CNA/so