Our Anchors

Message from the Chairman

Mr. Jayaprakash Jagateesan

As the current Management Committee concludes its two-year term, we do so with a deep sense of gratitude, humility and pride. This is an appropriate moment not only to reflect on the progress made in FY2025, but also to acknowledge the steady advances achieved over the course of our term in strengthening SIET’s mission, stewardship and institutional foundations. Throughout this period, SIET has remained unwavering in its commitment to empowering students through education, while ensuring that we continue to be guided by prudence, responsibility and long-term sustainability.

FY2025 has been another strong year for the Trust, marked by sustained financial stability, increased beneficiary support, and continued diversification of fundraising efforts. During the year, SIET recorded total revenue of S$1.07 million, supported by diversified fundraising channels including the Charity Golf Tournament, Founders’ Day with Tote Board matching, other donations, and digital giving platforms. Overall donation income increased to S$832,000, a testament to the trust and confidence that our donors, supporters and partners continue to place in SIET, and they affirm the importance of maintaining a diverse and resilient base of support for the work we undertake. Investment income remained healthy at S$228,826, further reinforcing SIET’s strong reserve position.

The Trust delivered a net surplus of S$552,565 in FY2025, compared to S$640,372 in FY2024. While this represents a moderation of S$87,807, FY2025 should be viewed as a strong and more normalised year following an exceptional FY2024. The decline in surplus was not due to weaker fundraising, but was primarily attributed to lower treasury returns, higher programme deployment towards beneficiaries, and the absence of one-off accounting gains recorded in the previous year.

Most importantly, FY2025 saw a meaningful increase in programme expenditure enabling greater deployment of funds directly to beneficiaries, strengthening SIET’s core mission impact. The organisation also continued to build on its strong financial foundation, maintaining healthy reserves and sustainable operating performance.

Our flagship SINDA–SIET Tertiary Bursary Scheme continued its expansion, supporting 832 students in 2025, an increase of 103 beneficiaries over the previous year. Total disbursement rose to S$1.19 million, with notable growth in the Polytechnic and University segments, underscoring SIET’s continued commitment to widening access to higher education.

Between 2023 and 2025, SIET has maintained a robust financial assistance framework, disbursing over S$1.6 million in study loans while continuing to provide targeted outright grants. This balanced approach ensures both sustainability and responsiveness to evolving student needs. Beyond financial performance, FY2025 reflects a broader shift in SIET’s strategic focus, from expansion towards consolidation, digitalisation, and operational strengthening. The Trust supported approximately 1,008 students across bursaries, loans, grants, and new programmes, reflecting a continued increase in overall reach. The launch of the PEI Bursary Scheme further expanded support to students in the Private Education Institution segment.

SIET also advanced its digital transformation efforts, moving from foundational system enhancements to greater automation and integration, including improved Student Relationship Management workflows and ongoing Singpass and AI integration and social media to strengthen engagement, outreach and organisational effectiveness Outreach efforts also evolved towards a more structured and targeted approach, enhancing engagement across schools and community networks.

Institutionally, we strengthened our resource panel through structured inductions, refresher training, and the onboarding of new panelists, ensuring greater consistency and rigour in our assessment processes. Our continued investment into governance frameworks were further embedded into operations, with improved financial monitoring and the strengthening of operational manuals across key areas and most notably board governance, HR, IT, PDPA, and volunteer management amongst others. These were supported by the Charity Capability Fund and are important foundations that will serve SIET well as we continue to build for the future with foresight and purpose.

We also continued to deepen partnerships with existing stakeholders while forging new collaborations with organisations such as Sree Narayana Mission, SP Jain School of Global Management, Tamil Murasu and ITE College West. These efforts reflect a strategic shift from partnership expansion to strengthening and sustaining long-term collaborations, including early steps towards alumni pipeline development.

We would like to place on record our appreciation to our interview panelists, sub-committees, volunteers, members, donors and partners, whose dedication and commitment have been instrumental in enabling SIET to broaden its reach and deepen its impact. Your generosity, commitment and confidence have enabled SIET not only to uphold strong standards of governance and stewardship, but also to extend meaningful support to students in need.

SIET remains financially robust, with a strong reserve base and a clear focus on long-term sustainability and impact. On behalf of the Management Council, I extend my sincere gratitude to all donors, partners, and stakeholders for their continued trust and support in SIET’s mission of empowering students through education.

As I conclude this term, I also extend my heartfelt thanks to my fellow Management Committee members and our Secretariat, ably headed by Ms Parul Sena, for their dedication and service. Together, we have sought to strengthen SIET’s foundations while remaining firmly guided by our mission and values. We look ahead with confidence and hope, knowing that SIET is well-positioned to continue serving future generations of students with integrity, compassion and purpose.