Student Drop-out Rates

Madam, the overall proportion of each Primary 1 (P1) cohort that does not complete secondary education has fallen from 4% in 2000 to less than 1% in the last five years. The majority of the students who dropped out did so because of a complex interplay of several factors, including difficult personal and family circumstances and negative peer influence outside of school.

To engage students in their studies, our schools proactively build caring and supportive environments which motivate them to learn and grow. This includes providing good pastoral care, appropriate career guidance and various programmes that help students build self-esteem, take responsibility for their actions and develop a desire to lead a purposeful life.

Schools closely monitor students at risk of dropping out and engage and motivate them to stay in school. One intervention is the Time Out Programme where the students are taken out of their regular classes and instead provided with a customised programme that aims to rekindle their desire to learn, as well

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as help them develop ways to cope with and overcome any personal, family or social problems that they might be faced with, before they are re-introduced back into their regular classes.

As the reasons for dropping out are many and complex, MOE reaches out to these students by tapping on the expertise and networks of relevant agencies, such as the Central Youth Guidance Office, MSF, MHA, SPF, CNB, self-help groups, Family Service Centres (FSCs) and Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs).

For example, students who drop out of school are referred to the Enhanced STEP-UP Programme set up by MSF. Under this programme, VWOs engage the out-of-school youth individually, as well as together with their family. Youths on this programme also participate in group activities to support them in returning to school or to be meaningfully engaged in society.

Parents are an essential partner in these efforts by our schools and VWOs. They help to effectively instil and reinforce the right values in our students, and provide support and encouragement to them. Schools will continue to engage and work with parents to support their child's needs.

The attrition rate at ITE has likewise declined over the last few years, due to extensive efforts undertaken by ITE. Around one-quarter of each P1 cohort progress to ITE, and more than four-fifths of them graduate with a full certificate. ITE students drop out for many reasons. Some students find it difficult to cope because of their weak academic foundation or difficult personal or family circumstances; while others lose interest in their studies because of a lack of positive peer and family influence, a lack of motivation and other available job opportunities elsewhere.

ITE has adopted a number of measures to address attrition. It has introduced a more flexible curriculum framework to prepare students for a cluster of related careers to keep students interested even if they are not able to enrol in their first choice course. ITE is also catering better to students with different needs, abilities and aspirations, and expanding student counselling and services to better support its students holistically. This year, ITE also introduced the Enhanced Nitec Foundation Programme (e-NFP) which includes an additional year to strengthen the foundation for the students so that they will successfully complete their Nitec courses. Team-building programmes to foster a greater sense of belonging and support among students have also been expanded. ITE also closely monitors and assists the weakest students by giving

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them additional remedial lessons and counselling. With time, many of these programmes and measures should ensure that more ITE students successfully complete their course of study.

I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. It is heartening to hear that drop-out rates have decreased over the years. I have two supplementary questions. To what extent are parents engaged, especially for these at-risk students and for those whose parents are absent and not around, who would be the guardians, who would be taking care of them, that the school engages? The second question is: for primary and secondary schools, are there sufficient allied educators who may work closely with such at-risk students to ensure that their behaviour is monitored?

Madam, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. ITE works closely with organisations that may be able to help students. The Enhanced STEP-UP Programme run by MSF, for example, works very closely with voluntary organisations, Family Service Centres and organisations that can help reach out to both the students as well as the parents, if necessary. So, it is working with organisations that have already the ability to reach out to parents that may prove useful. ITE is also working with voluntary organisations to run programmes that can help raise the motivation of the students who are in danger of dropping out. Based on the ITE reports, we are pleased to note that the programmes run by the two organisations are effective.

On allied educators, yes, almost all of our schools are supplied with allied educators for various reasons. Some are meant for classroom teaching and some allied educators are counsellors or helping the school with counselling work. We leave it to the school to decide on which type of allied educators they need and want to deploy.

I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. Following up on Mr Alex Yam's question, I would like to ask: is there any engagement by the school or the Ministry to engage those who have left school – whether there is any visit to the house to meet up with the parents or the students themselves to encourage them to go back to school?

Yes, Madam, in my reply, I did say that schools and ITE work with organisations to encourage those who have left school to return. Some of them are given the early foundation – the additional year that ITE gives

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to the students who are academically weaker. It may be useful to help those who may be in danger of dropping out or those who may drop out later, to return with some foundation that may be useful for them to pursue the courses that they are sent to.