FIVE schools will start boarding schemes from next year to help students develop character and leadership qualities.

They are Hwa Chong Institution, Raffles Institution, NUS High School of Maths and Science, National Junior College (NJC) and Anglo-Chinese School (Independent).

While the programmes for each school may vary, generally, students may stay in the school dormitory for 10 weeks to one year, returning home only on weekends.

Some of the schools already have students - mostly foreigners - staying in hostels. Also, there is no specific structure in their programme.

Announcing the new boarding scheme at the Education Ministry's Work Plan Seminar on Tuesday, Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said the aim is to produce stronger individuals all round and with a greater appetite for intellectual exploration.

'A close-knit and familial learning environment allows for meaningful interactions among students from different social and cultural backgrounds,' said the minister.

'It also instils a sense of social responsibility in students as they learn to look after one another. There is also more time and space for intellectual exploration beyond the examinable curriculum.'

All five schools offer the integrated programme, which allows students to skip the O levels and go on to take the A levels, or its equivalent.

Thus, with time freed up, students have the flexibility to incorporate the boarding experience into school life.

Raffles Institution's director for admissions and boarding, Mr Edward Ng, said parents may be more willing to let their children stay in a hostel if they do not have to prepare for a major exam.

That mindset was a hurdle in getting local students to stay in its hostels when RI first introduced them in the 1990s, said Mr Ng.

Its new boarding scheme will be mainly for students in leadership positions, like prefects and house captains.

For most of the other schools, like NJC, Hwa Chong and ACS(I), there will also be more time and space for students to take non-examination modules, such as philosophy, political science and anthropology.

ACS(I) students will get to take lessons on language and literature, history or public speaking while those at Hwa Chong have additional activities as part of the core leadership programme.

Hostel fees at Hwa Chong are now $800 per month while RI students pay $7,000 a year. ACS(I) students pay $7,800 a year for boarding.

When the schools formally introduce boarding, fees will be subsidised.

At NUS High, which already has its 90 Year 5 students staying in its hostel this year, students pay $500 a month.

Principal Dr Hang Kim Hoo said he is looking to bring down the cost.

He added that boarding provided more opportunities for students to work together on their projects and access research facilities.

NJC, which is now building its hostel, will have space for 500 students, half of whom will be Singaporeans.