SCHOOL DROPOUTS (Causes and prevention)

SCHOOL DROPOUTS

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(Causes and prevention): **

6.

Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan asked the Minister for Education (a) what is the number of school dropouts for each year starting from 2000 and broken down by primary, secondary and Institute of Technical Education levels as well as by race; (b) what are the key reasons given by students for dropping out of school; (c) what intervention programmes do the schools and ITEs have to minimise dropouts; (d) how successful have these intervention programmes been; and (e) if the Ministry is looking into new programmes to help prevent dropouts.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam: The number of students who drop out of our schools before they complete secondary education has decreased from over 3% of cohort five years ago to about 2.6% in 2005. The number of such students is generally on a declining trend among all ethnic groups.

Similar to schools, the numbers are on a declining trend in the ITE. In 2005, the proportion of students who left ITE's full-time courses without an ITE qualification was about 12.0% of ITE's full-time enrolment, compared to 17% in 2000.

The key reasons cited by students for dropping out of schools include loss of interest in studies and family/personal problems. The same reasons apply for those who leave the ITE. However attrition from the ITE is also higher because the students are older and have more options open to them, including working or pursuing private courses. Some of these students pursue part-time studies in private educational institutions, including re-taking their 'O' levels as private candidates.

Schools and ITE adopt both proactive and intervention measures to ensure that students stay enrolled. These include pastoral care, life-skills and career guidance programmes which are aimed at helping students build up confidence in school or ITE and develop purposefulness in life, and to take responsibility for their actions. The intervention measures include counselling of potential dropouts by both teachers as well as professional counsellors. Schools work closely with parents in the education of their children and encourage them to provide the necessary home support to sustain the student's interest in school. In addition, ITE's Guidance and Motivation Programme provides motivational talks and orientation programmes to facilitate a smooth transition for fresh school leavers enrolled into ITE.

Schools also work with external agencies such as self-help groups, family services centres and SANA to reach out to "at-risk" students and to help counsel them. They also encourage those who leave school prematurely to return to schools.

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While the impact of intervention programmes is difficult to identify with any precision, the decline in dropout rates over the years suggests that they have had a positive impact.

We are doing more. Schools and ITE will continue to work with other agencies to do so. We will reach out to each individual student in a customised way, as each potential dropout is unique.

In addition, we believe that a more engaging curriculum and providing more educational options to meet the different needs of students will help to reduce the number of dropouts. MOE has thus introduced Elective Modules (EMs) on subjects like Science and Elements of Office Administrations for Normal course students to make lessons more relevant and engaging. MOE will also be introducing a customised N(T) curriculum from 2007 that is more practice-oriented to better match the learning profile of the students and provide them with meaningful learning experiences in school. MOE is also working to enhance the Vocational Training Centres to make it a more viable option for students who do not find the mainstream curriculum suitable.

ITE has and will introduce new courses in response to the changing needs of the economy, especially the services sector, to help meet the different needs, aptitudes and interests of its students. Examples of such courses introduced recently include the Nitec in Service Skills (Tourism), Nitec in Product Design, and Higher Nitec in Wireless Technology.

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