By Theresa Tan

STUDENTS are falling for the 'love' elective offered at two polytechnics.

At Singapore Polytechnic (SP), 'Love relations for life - a journey of romance, love and sexuality' made the top 10 list of most popular general elective courses last year.

It is in such demand that the polytechnic has doubled the number of available places from 360 last year to 720 this year.

At Ngee Ann Polytechnic, close to 400 students have sat for the elective on 'Understanding relationships: love and sexuality', introduced last year.

These 'love' courses aim to teach students all about love and relationships.

Madam Sukie Tong, who teaches the elective at SP, told The Straits Times: 'The class is not about getting students to pair up, but teaching them relationship skills so that if and when they are in one, they can handle things better.'

Skills to resolve conflicts, and lessons on why men and women think and react differently are all part and parcel of the 15-week course, said Madam Tong.

She added: 'Students say their relationships improved after they took the elective, for example, as they realised the importance of giving their boyfriends more space.'

The 43-year-old counsellor and psychotherapist and her colleagues from LifeMagicWorks - a company providing counselling and coaching services - developed the elective from their counselling experience, based on the psychological aspects of love and sex.

These 'love' electives are the brainchild of the Social Development Unit (SDU) - the government matchmaker - and come after years of failing to get Singaporeans to have more babies.

Instead of banking on graduates to fall in love and marry, the SDU has trained its sights on slightly younger students.

It is so pleased by the success of the 'love' electives that it now wants to extend them to junior college students, The Straits Times reported earlier this month.

But why are students rushing to learn about love? They are not as starry-eyed as you might think. The elective is easy to score in, say students interviewed.

Ng Zhi Xian, 19, said: 'I took the elective to get an A. All my friends who took the elective scored an A.'

As Madam Tong put it: 'Nobody has failed this elective yet. It's impossible to fail unless you don't do any work at all.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Aug 18, 2008.