What is NuLife?

NuLife is a non-profit Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) that focuses its resources on education and counselling.  It was set up 9 years ago by its founder, Ms Sheena Jebal. At present NuLife is governed by a Board of Directors and managed by a number of its staffs.  It was incorporated in the year 2004 to a company limited by guarantee and has been a member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) since October 2005.

What do we do? (Apart from tuition & counselling)

The centre aspires to reach out to youths who are in need of assistance. These youths include children beyond parental control, youth-at-risk, juvenile delinquents, students being referred for counselling and students who are referred by schools that collaborate with the centre to work out a rehabilitation program.
Students in NuLife are given opportunities to hang out at the centre, enabling them to engage in productive and meaningful activities as compared to loitering the streets and placing themselves in vulnerable situations.  NuLife provides a suitable place for such youths to interact and connect with peers that encourage, as youths are at a stage where they connect more with their friends to seek group identity. They can form good social support with one another as this ensures a healthy alternative emotional support for they tend to open up more to their peers than to their parents or teachers.

Some of our programmes include:

• Private N/ O Level (Students can register for their examinations as private candidates with the Ministry of Education. Our tutors will coach and prepare them for the examinations. Classes are held from 12noon to 5pm on weekdays. Currently, we have 6 candidates and majority of them are late bloomers or attrition students.)
• Sponsorship of N/ O Level Fees (Students who are unable to pay their N/ O examination fees due to their socio-economic status will be assisted by NuLife. We source for sponsors to pay the fees as there are no schemes available to assist them for they are not in mainstream schools.)
• Suspension Programme (Students who are suspended from their school for a temporary period of time can attend classes at NuLife. This ensures that they do not lose interest in their studies and do not cite the suspension as a reason to fall back on their studies when they return back to school. Students will attend classes on a daily basis much like attending school until the suspension period is over.)
• Sponsorship of School Necessities (Sponsors are sourced to pay for the student’s school necessities for the commencement of the new academic year. This allows students to start the academic year with all the necessary resources without which they may lack in their academic performance for their parents are not able to provide them with. Students assisted do not qualify for government assistance as their family income does not meet the salary cap requirement of typically $1500 with a family of two school going children and $1800 with a family of three school going children. With the early purchase of school necessities, NuLife tutors are able to prepare the students a month ahead of the school syllabus.)
• Sponsoring Monthly Expenses (Sponsors may choose to sponsor the monthly expenses of a student which include the school fees, transport allowance & school pocket money for the month). Sponsors will be given the profile of the student they are sponsoring and transparency to meet up with the student and their parents will be arranged by the centre.
• Counselling for any age group (Mediation, Marriage, Addiction, Self-harm Behaviour, Career, Employment, Cyber, Relationship Bullying, Gerontology, School Placement, Sex and Moral Education to name a few)
• Information and Referral to external agencies such as Family Service Centres, Community Development Councils, Family Courts, Legal Aids and etc. We aid in writing referral/cover letters to external agencies that can offer the needed assistance to clients, especially those who are illiterate and have difficulties expressing themselves.)

Why did we set up NuLife?

Our founder/ CEO, Ms Sheena felt that there was a need for tuition integrated with counselling as there was a rise in social issues amongst youths since the year 2000. Nowadays, parents are working long hours to provide food on the table and a roof above their head for their family and youths tend to take advantage of the situation and go astray if there is less or no supervision.
NuLife aims to provide education to all despite their socio-economic status. This is to ensure that the poverty cycle is abolished via education. Youths who are unable to cope or face behavioural and psychosocial problems manifest unto behavioural problems like dropping out from school prematurely, joining street gangs or secret societies, defiant behaviour, engaging in premarital sex and substance abuse. The support offered by NuLife is especially important in the development of the youths as being in their adolescent stage of development requires them to cope with biological, cognitive, emotional and social changes. This includes pressures from coping with their studies, school, peers, new found acquaintances n even their family.

Is there any funding for NuLife?

At present, NuLife is a member of the National Council of Social Service (NCSS). However, we are not receiving any funding to facilitate the running of the centre as we have yet to receive our charity status with the Commissioner of Charities. Our application for charity status was rejected as the services offered by NuLife were deemed duplication and similar to the services offered by the Family Service Centres. Nevertheless, we do receive VCF (funding where our volunteers and staffs are able to attend courses at the Social Service Training Institute at a subsidised rate). We are still trying to gain the charity status as being a registered charity will allow NuLife to attain its IPC status.