By Jane Ng

FOR students used to failing, success is a foreign concept.

This is why the 10-month-old Assumption Pathway School (APS) in Upper Bukit Timah believes in setting its students up to succeed in a goal they pick for themselves - be it to climb Mount Kinabalu or learn a musical instrument.

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Teacher Christopher Yip, who runs the programme, said it aims to give the students a taste of success and let this permeate other aspects of their lives.

'These are students who failed in primary school or failed the PSLE. Many have never felt a sense of achievement.'

First-year student Suhashini Satthiyan, 14, will climb Mount Kinabalu next week with friends. She trains by climbing stairs, 16 to 20 storeys each time.

The trip will be her first overseas. She said: 'I've not climbed a mountain before, so I wanted to try. My family is very proud of me.'

Her parents, a childcare teacher and a sales assistant, also have a son, aged four.

Muhammad Hazarqim Rosli, 13, is learning to play the guitar. He said: 'I've always liked it, but never learnt it properly. Now, I'm learning chords and Michael Jackson songs.'

Principal Wee Tat Chuen said he hopes his students will learn resilience: 'We want them to identify a goal, take action and keep at it to make it come true.'

APS also runs a residential programme to teach its students independence, by showing them, for instance, how to do basic household chores.

Students also go on industrial attachments at hotels and factories.

During his stint at the Royal Plaza On Scotts, Wilson Wee, 15, found the pace an eye-opener: 'The kitchen is small, with a lot of people rushing about. They clean rooms in 30 minutes. It's not easy at all.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.