Parliamentary Replies
ITE Attrition
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mdm Halimah Yacob, Member of Parliament for Jurong GRC
Question
To ask the Minister for Education (a) what is the dropout rate of students in the Institutes of Technical Education (ITE); (b) whether there has been any studies done to ascertain the reasons for such dropouts; (c) whether more teaching resources as well as related services such as counselling will help to reduce the dropout rate; and (d) what happens to the students who dropout of ITE and how are they being assisted to acquire relevant skills to be employable.
Response
The attrition rate at the ITE has declined over the last few years, due to extensive efforts undertaken by ITE’s lecturers and staff. Latest data from ITE shows that 82% of the intake cohort from 2006 graduated from ITE with a full certificate. Of the 18% who left ITE prematurely, 69% obtained certification for at least one core module of study.
In 2006, a committee on ITE Student Success1 was formed to identify reasons for attrition as well as recommend measures to address these. The study showed that ITE students drop out for many reasons: peer and family influence, lack of drive, not being able to cope with their studies, job opportunities, and personal or family issues.
Since then, several recommendations have been implemented to address the different causes of attrition. These include (a) introducing a flexible curriculum framework to cater to students with different needs, abilities and aspirations; (b) expanding student counselling and services to provide holistic support for students; (c) enhancing the professional development of ITE lecturers to improve teaching effectiveness; and (d) instituting team-building programmes to foster camaraderie and peer support among students. ITE closely monitors and assists the weakest students by giving them additional remedial lessons and counselling. With time, many of these programmes and measures should yield a higher success rate for ITE students.
ITE will maintain the rigour of its courses to ensure acceptability by employers and will not lower standards to improve completion rates. ITE’s current rate of non-completion is already among the lowest in the world for vocational institutions. Nevertheless, it will continue its efforts to help as many students as possible complete their course. For those who leave prematurely, or without full certificates, ITE will continue to provide avenues for them to return to complete their training. Based on survey findings from the committee’s final report, more than half of the ITE students who leave early are in fact open to the prospect of re-enrolling sometime later. Assistance will also be given to help them pick up skills to be employable.
Footnote
- The committee comprised representatives from MCYS, MOE, ITE and the schools. ↵