Development

Moulding Tomorrow’s Leaders

PSC Scholarship holders participate in a series of milestone programmes and developmental opportunities during their studies. These programmes help them develop a diverse set of experiences and prepare them to make impactful contributions.

2024 Preparatory Course

The annual Preparatory Course is designed to prepare new PSC Scholarship recipients for their academic journey while developing them as future leaders of the Singapore Public Service. The programme also provides them with a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges ahead for the Public Service. The 2024 Preparatory Course was conducted from 13 to 28 June 2024 and included a three-day Outward Bound Singapore experience focused on enhancing self-awareness, leadership skills and team cohesion.

2024 PSC Scholarship Recipients at the Three-day Outward Bound Singapore Experience

The course also featured a culinary workshop and a self-defence class to enhance the scholars' life skills and personal safety awareness.

2024 PSC Scholarship Recipients at the Culinary Workshop

2024 PSC Scholarship Recipients Picking Up Self-defence Skills

As part of the Preparatory Course, all scholarship recipients participated in the Youth Corps Leaders Programme (YCLP). The YCLP empowers them to identify, plan and execute projects that address community issues and support a meaningful cause. In 2024, two YCLP projects were completed, both of which are highlighted in the following paragraphs.

2024 PSC Scholarship Recipients with Guest Speaker, Mr Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth

ForesightSG

ForesightSG collaborated with Pro Bono SG to enhance the legal and financial education knowledge of youths. Insights into the life challenges that youths faced as well as the types of financial knowledge they were lacking were gathered through focus group discussions. The team then designed targeted resources and information that would be most relevant and beneficial in helping youths better navigate their life challenges.

Project Homerun

Project Homerun, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity Singapore, aimed to improve the living conditions of vulnerable individuals residing in unsafe and unsanitary homes. The project targeted those with limited family support and who were reliant on social service agencies. Volunteers organised sessions to clean and maintain these homes, addressing the physical and mental health challenges faced by the residents. In addition to providing direct assistance, the project also raised funds to support Habitat for Humanity's work.

2024 PSC Scholarship Holders’ Mid-Course Programme (PSMP)

The PSMP, held midway through a scholarship holder’s undergraduate studies, builds on the foundations laid in the Preparatory Course and the scholarship holder’s undergraduate experiences. The programme provides greater context to the realities of governance and highlights recent developments in Singapore. The PSMP includes a six-to-eight-week internship component with a government agency, where scholarship holders gain first-hand experience in the Public Service. 63 scholarship holders attended the PSMP held from 1 to 5 July 2024.

Organised together with the PSMP, the Singapore Seminar on 24 July 2024 brought together scholarship holders from various public sector agencies under the theme “AI for the Public Good, for Singapore and the World”. The forum focused on the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Singapore’s future development, highlighting both the potential challenges and opportunities within the country’s AI strategy. It also aimed to generate ideas on how to harness AI’s potential to support Singapore’s progress.

PSC Scholarship Holders Discussing Singapore’s Evolving Social Compact and the ForwardSG Initiative

Diverse Experiences through Academic Programmes, Internships and Gap Year Programme

Scholarship holders are encouraged to actively seek out diverse experiences, particularly in areas of strategic interest to the Public Service, to complement their formal education and provide them with a broader worldview.

In 2024, PSC Scholarship holders took part in academic programmes across a wide range of countries including Cambodia, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Nepal, Norway, Prague, Sweden and Switzerland, to widen their horizons.

Beyond academic programmes, scholarship holders took part in internships outside of the Public Service. In 2024, these included stints with Deloitte LLP in the United Kingdom and LinkedIn in the United States.

Scholarship holders also have the option to do a Gap Year either locally or overseas with international organisations, reputable non-governmental organisations and private companies. The experiences from these stints inject diversity into the Public Service's talent pipeline and help scholarship holders to build up global networks. In 2024, scholarship holders did Gap Year programmes with the following organisations: Google DeepMind (United States), Interpol (United States), UNESCO (France), and Venture Education (China).