Reading time: 5 mins
At a glance
- Attending courses offered by NGOs is a way for your helper to spend her rest day meaningfully.
- Language classes, such as conversational English and Mandarin, can improve her communication skills. These reduce the chances of her miscommunicating with you or your household members.
- Self-improvement courses, like financial literacy, help her to manage her money responsibly and avoid the need to borrow.
Training courses could benefit both your migrant domestic worker (MDW) and your household. Non-government organisations (NGOs) offer a variety of these, and they could help her develop essential skills – making her more productive and better adjusted to working and living in your household.
Let’s take a closer look at two NGO courses that teach your MDW valuable skills.
ACMI's language classes
If you or your family members have ever had trouble getting your MDW to understand instructions, you’d know that this can cause stress for everyone involved. Effective communication between your MDW and your household members is essential, as it simply makes things easier at home.
ACMI offers English and Mandarin classes, which focus on:
- Teaching essential vocabulary and phrases for her daily tasks
- Building her confidence in communicating with you and your household members
- Improving your MDW's ability to avoid miscommunications
Here’s a look at what takes place during a Basic Conversational English class.
ACMI conducts beginners’ English classes for MDWs at Caritas Agape Village, Toa Payoh.
The weekly classes focus on clear communication using simple English.
Instruction is practical and focuses on clear speaking. (Students wear vests for easy identification.)
Teaching MDWs to ask simple questions in short sentences helps avoid misunderstandings.
Worksheets help MDWs remember what they’re learning.
Trainers focus on clear pronunciation and encouraging MDWs to speak during classes to build up their confidence.
ACMI also offers classes in topics such as baking and cooking. Check out their latest available courses.
Aidha's financial literacy courses
Financial literacy is crucial for your MDW. When your MDW can manage her money well, she is less likely to overspend or fall into debt. This helps her to avoid borrowing from unlicensed moneylenders and falling for loan scams. Furthermore, when she has more savings to fall back on in case of emergency requests from her family back home, she will feel less stressed and will be able to better focus on her work here, which translates to greater peace of mind for you.
Here's a peek into what happens during Aidha’s Manage Your Money & Tech course. (Aidha offers other courses too.)
The course teaches crucial money management skills like drawing up a basic budget and expense tracking. It also introduces students to the basics of using a computer, Gmail, Google search, and more.
To aid learning, courses have a small teacher-student ratio.
The course takes place on two Sundays a month, over six months.
Trainers encourage MDWs to ask questions to aid understanding and build confidence.
Training aides like worksheets help MDWs retain knowledge.
"Empowering students to take control of their own finances has been incredibly rewarding." - Trainer Romi Chia
"Aidha courses not only help us prepare for our future, but they also help in our daily lives." – MDW Alumna Ulfa
Encourage your MDW to sign up for these NGO courses to improve herself, which will also benefit your household. Take the first step today by talking to her about her learning interests and visiting the course pages of NGOs such as ACMI and Aidha.