FOUR in 10 Secondary 5 Normal stream students put through the O-level mill each year fail to make it to the polytechnics.

This comes to 3,600 out of 9,000 such students who do not make the cut.

Of the 3,600, half end up at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), with the rest hitting the job market, going to private schools for diploma courses or repeating the O levels.

These figures explain why schools advise their weaker Normal stream students to take the ITE route even if they have made it to Sec 5.

Read the full story in The Straits Times today.