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THE Ministry of Education will introduce more measures to engage students who are at risk of dropping out remain in school, even as the number has dropped considerably over the years.
It will provide more support and resources to schools to help more students attain at least 10 years of education so that they can get a post-secondary education to maximise their potential and have the best chance of succeeding in life.
Some of these measures include the Learning Support Programme (LSP) for English Language and Mathematics at Primary 1 and 2, deployment of full-time school counsellors, and re-admission of school dropouts.
The additional measures were announced by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education, in Parliament on Tuesday during the debate on the MOE's budget.
Mr Masagos, who chairs the Committee on Reducing Attrition in Education, said over the next four years, 70 schools will get a second full-time counsellor and an additional operations manager to co-ordinate the school, home and community level support for students.
Teachers will be given screening tools to help them identify students at-risk so that they can provide timely intervention and support, including referrals to specialists, if necessary.
A monitoring system will also be developed to help teachers track the development of individual students. This will include alerts on early signals of students at risk of dropping out.
There will also be more engagement with students through CCAs and career guidance, as well as establishing closer partnership with community groups, such as voluntary welfare organisations, to work with the families of at-risk pupils.
The dropout rate in Singapore is now at 1.6 per cent, and has fallen considerably from 5.3 per cent in 1997 and 3.6 per cent in 2002.
The drop has reflected improvements at all levels and among students of all ethnic groups, said MOE.
'The significant progress reflects the success of MOE's initiatives and our schools' relentless efforts to address the needs of students who are at-risk and help them remain in school.'
The percentage of out-of-school youths who have successfully applied for re-admission has steadily increased over the years, from 65 per cent in 2005 to 85 per cent in 2007.
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