By Veena Bharwani

MRS Chua Eng Suak has seen it all in her 32 years as a teacher in a vocational institute.

Unmotivated students, aimless students and, worst of all, students who drop out.

But a change is brewing at the Assumption Vocational Institute and Mrs Chua is delighted by it.

One of the biggest changes is that the school will admit first-time PSLE failures from next year.

Previously, students had to fail the Primary School Leaving Examination three times before gaining admission into the school.

To mark these changes, the school is also going to be renamed Assumption Pathway School from January next year.

Said Mrs Chua: 'It's better to get the kids at a younger age. When the kids are older, they have more deep-rooted problems that are usually harder to fix.

'When they are younger, we have a chance to motivate them more as they are more flexible.'

Helpless

She noted that some students continued to do badly repeatedly because their failures in previous years caused them to feel helpless.

'When they come to us, it might be too late to motivate them to succeed. Now that we are taking kids at a younger age, we have a chance to motivate them and keep them in school for a longer time,' she added.

In addition, the school has developed a character education programme, which was previously not in the curriculum, called the Montfort Development Programme. It teaches them the school's history and exposes them to service learning skills.

The school's new principal, Mr Wee Tat Chuen, 37, who will be taking over next year, noted that under the mechanical servicing course, for instance, students might be asked to go to an old folks' home to repair wheelchairs.

Said Mr Wee: 'The character education component will be the driver to the students' success. It doesn't matter how much we invest in facilities. If the students are not equipped with character, they are less likely to succeed in life.'

The school will be holding an open house on Wednesday where Minister of Education Ng Eng Hen will unveil an artist's impression of the school's new facilities which will include a new residential block for incoming students in 2011.

For more info, visit www.aps.edu.sg 

Changes at the school

Admission

Before: Age of admission 14 to 17. Students must have failed PSLE at least three times before gaining admission.

From 2009: Age of admission from 12 to 17. With principal's recommendation, students can be admitted after failing PSLE the first time.

Character development

Before: Limited character development built into curriculum.

From 2009: A full-fledged character development programme called the Montfort Development Programme to teach students school values with a focus on service learning.

Choice of course

Before: Incoming students had to immediately choose either technical or non-technical option.

From 2009: Incoming students sit for a skills induction programme. They get to taste a range of different modules and courses. At the end of the first year, they choose their preferred course.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 10, 2008.