Speeches
FY 2008 Committee of Supply Debate: 4th Reply by Senior Parliamentary Secretary Mr Masagos Zulkifli BMM on Attrition and School Matters
Mr Chairman, a few members have raised some questions on how MOE can help to keep our students stay engaged in schools. I will first start by addressing Dr Lily Neo’s issue on how we have reduced the attrition rate in schools, followed by an update on MOE’s character development programmes which Dr Ong Seh Hong and Ms Lee Bee Wah alluded to. I will then talk about the role of CCAs in child development raised by Dr Maliki, before coming to the issue of financial assistance raised by Dr Lim Wee Kiak.
Mengurangkan Keciciran Di Sekolah
Jumlah para pelajar yang tercicir di sekolah adalah kecil dan semakin berkurangan merentas semua peringkat dan bangsa sejak beberapa tahun ini. Kadar keciciran kita telah merosot dengan ketara daripada 5.3% dalam tahun 1997 ke 3.6% dalam tahun 2002. Sejak kita melaksanakan beberapa inisiatif ekoran dari pengumuman PM Lee untuk mengurangkan jumlah keciciran, kini kadar keciciran telah turun menjadi 1.6%.
Pada masa ini, sekitar 0.15% daripada kohort yang tercicir berlaku ketika di sekolah rendah. Sebanyak 0.45% lagi tercicir semasa peralihan dari sekolah rendah ke sekolah menengah. Pengurangan terbesar dalam kadar keciciran datang dari golongan yang tercicir semasa di sekolah menengah. Golongan ini merupakan 1% daripada kohort sekarang berbanding dengan 1.6% dua tahun yang lalu. Lebih kurang 70% daripada mereka yang tercicir meninggalkan sekolah pada peringkat menengah atas, terutama sekali di peringkat Menengah 3. Tambahan lagi, lebih kurang 90% pelajar sekolah menengah yang tercicir terdiri daripada pelajar-pelajar dari aliran Normal (Akademik) dan Normal (Teknikal).
Reducing Attrition in Schools
Let me start by describing the current attrition situation in schools. The number of students who drop out from school is small, and has been decreasing across all levels and races over the years. Our drop-out rate has reduced significantly from 5.3% in 1997 to 3.6% in 2002. PM Lee had announced in 2006 that MOE would be studying how to further reduce the attrition rate in schools. Since then, we have put in place several initiatives and schools have developed ways to reduce the number of dropouts, the attrition rate is now 1.6%. While our drop-out rate remains very small compared to many other countries, we want to do everything we can to get as many students as possible to attain at least 10 years of education, so that they can subsequently get a post-secondary education. This would help equip them with useful skills and knowledge, and prepare them well for the workforce.
The work and oversight of the Committee to Reduce Attrition (CRA) and the effort and programs put in by our schools will continue to be important not only to reduce drop-out rates and maintain the low drop out rates in our schools, but also to address those with some form of risk of dropping out which students can develop at any point of their time in school. The small attrition rate in fact belies the tremendous effort and comprehensive systems put in place by the schools and community to keep it in check.
Currently, around 0.15% of the cohort drops out during primary school. For this group of students, we have implemented the Learning Support Programme, which we enhanced recently and had improved outcomes, to help Primary 1 and 2 students who are not school-ready by providing them with dedicated assistance. The introduction of compulsory education for primary school since 2003 has further reduced the number of children not attending school or dropping out over the years.
Another 0.45% drops out during the transition from primary to secondary school. To address this group, we have established NorthLight School in 2007 to provide them with a customised vocational curriculum that focuses on their socio-emotional needs and character development. Last year, for students who have been posted to a secondary school after their PSLE but did not report to the secondary school subsequently, we have also put the onus on their former primary schools to contact them and counsel them to enrol in a secondary school.
The biggest improvement in attrition rate comes from those who drop out during secondary school. This is 1% of the cohort currently, compared to 1.6% two years ago. This drop is largely due to the many initiatives undertaken by the schools themselves following PM Lee’s announcement on the formation of the CRA. About 70% of the dropouts leave school at the upper secondary level, namely Secondary 3. In addition, about 90% of the secondary dropouts are from the Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical) streams. We will continue to focus more efforts and resources on this group of students to help them stay in school.
Current Programmes to Reduce Attrition
Why do students drop out from school? They drop out from school due to many different factors, not just financial difficulties. Some have family problems, while others may find difficulties coping with their studies, are more keen to work than study, or lack the motivation to learn, especially after mixing with bad company. There are also students who experience a combination of these factors. Consequently, they become disengaged from what is happening in school.
To address these factors, MOE has implemented various initiatives over the years to strengthen students’ engagement through programmes such as Education and Career Guidance and CCAs. Education and Career Guidance allows students to determine their educational and occupational pathways based on their interests, abilities and aspirations. When students have clear goals to work towards, they become more motivated in their studies. Likewise, CCAs provide opportunities for students to develop interests and bonds with peers outside of academic pursuits, and help to keep them engaged in school.
We have implemented a revised Normal (Technical) curriculum with a more practical orientation, to better engage our students in their learning. Three schools, namely Bedok Town Secondary, Si Ling Secondary and Shuqun Secondary have begun piloting new approaches to the N(T) programme by introducing new subjects and pedagogies developed in partnership with ITE. The introduction of Elective Modules and Advanced Elective Modules has also created greater engagement and enjoyment in learning for students due to the more practical hands-on approaches. We have also enhanced the Student Re-admission Policy in 2006 by putting in place a responsive process to facilitate the readmission of school dropouts. As a result, the percentage of students who have successfully applied for readmission has increased from 65% in 2005 to 85% last year.
Let me now talk about the time-out programmes schools have initiated to provide enhanced guidance and support for students with disciplinary, behavioural and academic problems. These programmes provide them with a time-out from their normal school environment and routine so that they can sort out their thoughts, redirect themselves and prepare to get back on track with their learning again. 12 such time-out programmes involving 44 schools were initiated last year, and with much success. For example, of the 17 Sec 3 Normal (Technical) students who participated in Chong Boon Secondary’s time-out programme last year, 16 of them are still attending school regularly.
One such programme was the Centre for Supervised Learning (CSL). This programme helps students with behavioural problems from Bukit Merah Secondary School, Outram Secondary School, Gan Eng Seng and St. Theresa’s Convent embrace positive learning attitudes, so as to ensure sustained learning when they reintegrate into the classroom. During the 4-week programme, students were taught social and emotional competencies and character development besides study skills for core subjects. Chee Wei Rong from Outram Secondary School was one of the students who participated in the programme in July 2007. Before that, he had been absent from school for more than a year, due to a lack of motivation for learning. Through the customised programmes and close interaction with teachers, Wei Rong became aware of the need for a proper formal education to achieve his career goals. At the end of the programme, Wei Rong returned to school, topped his Sec 2 class and was promoted to Secondary 3. He is now a good role model for other students in his class. We will continue to support schools in these programmes by providing specialists to offer advice on programme and evaluation design, and toolkits to study their impact on students.
Further Steps to Reduce Attrition
Now let me describe to you the further steps we are taking to reduce our attrition. Although our drop-out rate is very low, maintaining it at this level and improving it further will require more work over time, given that our students continue to be exposed to different influences and distractions outside school. Building on our existing efforts, MOE will adopt the following three measures to further reduce attrition, especially among students in the high-risk groups.
First, we will provide additional resources for schools. The small rate of attrition also implies that the students who actually drop out are at high risk of dropping out and are not addressable with more of the same thing. In fact most need to be individually case managed. As of Jan this year, we have assigned Full-Time School Counsellors to all schools to identify potentially at-risk students, design programmes and provide counselling support for them. These FTSCs have been very effective in engaging students who are at risk of dropping out of school. Over the next few years, MOE will be providing a second FTSC and an additional Operations Manager to 70 schools with higher proportions of at-risk students. The Operations Manager will follow up with the students at-risk to ensure that they are participating in all aspects of school lifes and are meaningfully engaged in school programmes like CCAs.
Second, we will support earlier intervention through identifying and monitoring at-risk students. Currently, often work done for a child at risk, even when documented, does not get passed on properly for continuous monitoring and subsequent intervention as the child moves from class to class. This is important because not all problems can be resolved quickly or within an academic year. This systemic problem is exacerbated when the child moves from school to school. We will be developing tools to identify students with literacy, behavioural or social communication difficulties early, so that we can provide timely support to them and plan the best pathway for intervention. We will also be developing data management tools to provide useful information on individual students for teachers to facilitate the monitoring of their development even as they move from school to school and from class to class. These tools can help teachers design appropriate learning structures and processes to improve their quality of learning.
Third, we will strengthen further our partnerships with other ministries, non-government institutions and self-help groups to provide comprehensive and holistic support for these students. For a start, we are consolidating programmes currently offered by self-help groups, and will be disseminating them to all schools so that they can tap on these programmes where appropriate. We recognise the self help groups have been providing intervention and prevention programs for a long time. With their experience and access, MOE will work together with them in areas where our synergy will make their effort more effective and contribute to reducing attrition in schools.
Character Building
On character building, Dr Ong Seh Hong and Ms Lee Bee Wah have asked for an update on what MOE has done to improve the character building and moral values of our students. This is not only important for our society, but for the students themselves. I agree with them that the school is not only about academic learning but is also not solely responsible to develop character in our students.
However, having said that, MOE has always regarded character development as one of our key areas of focus in the education system. We have developed many platforms in the formal and non-formal curriculum. One of these platforms is Civics and Moral Education or CME, where students are taught to live by certain core values in order to guide them to make appropriate choices, and determine their behaviour and attitudes towards themselves, others and the environment.
Apart from CME, there are other programmes and activities in the non-formal curriculum, such as National Education, Community Involvement Programme and Co-Curricular Activities that provide students with these opportunities to practise making value-based choices.
We have also introduced the Character Development Award in 2006. This award recognises and motivates schools’ efforts in character development, and provides a structured framework to guide schools in their character development efforts. Over the last two years, 139 schools have attained the CDA.
CCAs
On CCAs, Dr Maliki has concerns regarding the effect of CCA trials and auditions on students. Schools plan their CCA programmes taking into consideration their students’ interests, available resources and niches. While students prefer the CCAs they would like to participate in, there may be inadequate resources to meet the students’ choices. This problem exists in all instances when demand exceeds supply or when supply cannot or should not be expanded for good reason. There are however complementary alternatives. Besides the formal CCAs which have a 30-week programme, schools have adopted other innovative ways to engage their pupils in their activities of interest, such as inter-house activities and modular CCAs. MOE has also been working with the Singapore Sports Council since last year to provide all schools with a dollar-for-dollar Sports Education Programme of up to $10,000 per school. Using this fund, schools can run sport programmes for students, such as sports clinics, instructional courses and even modules where students learn skills in organising, teaching and refereeing sports and games. To date, more than 140,000 students from 311 schools have benefited.
While getting the preferred choice of CCA may be a problem, just like getting the preferred choice for schools, we should recognise that CCAs remain a great engagement framework to keep students in school.
CCAs help to expose students to different experiences, and encourage them to explore and cultivate different interests. Chua Mui Fan from Mayflower Secondary is an excellent example. As a quiet and introverted girl, Mui Fan entered the Normal (Technical) stream with an aggregate score of 98. After taking up sailing as a CCA, she gradually built up her confidence and perseverance through the sport. With her strong leadership skills, she became the captain of the sailing team, and led her team to clinch second place at the 2004 National Inter-Schools Sailing Championships. Mui Fan subsequently became the top NT student in her school and progressed on to ITE to take Multimedia Technology. She is now in Temasek Polytechnic doing a course in Mechatronics. She attributes much of her success in studies to the skills she had acquired in her various CCAs.
Despite Dr Maliki’s concern, our surveys show that our students are indeed satisfied with the learning experiences provided in CCAs, and recognise the value of participating in them. We will continue to review the structure of CCAs to allow students to better discover their interests and strengths, build up their confidence and engage them meaningfully in school.
Financial Assistance Schemes
Let me address Dr Lim’s query on the income criteria for MOE’s financial assistance scheme. This is relevant to address families who are at risk of pulling their children out of school because of financial issues.
General education is almost fully subsidised by the Government. For students in Government and Government-aided schools, parents are required to pay a token amount of the fees to instil in them the sense they must be responsible for the education of their children.
Even when this token amount is not affordable, parents can apply for the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS). The income criteria was raised in 2006 from $900 to $1,500 for families with 1 or 2 children, and from $1,050 to $1,800 for families with 3 or more children to target the low-wage families. As a result, the number of recipients increased by almost 3 times from 15,000 in 2005 to 44,200 in 2007. But we will continue to review the FAS so that the income criteria keep pace with the changing income profile of the population.
The current income criteria for the MOE FAS provide a higher income limit of $1,800 for families with 3 or more children, in recognition that larger households would need a higher level of income to pay for their expenses. Of course, for families that do not qualify somehow or on the border, the schools would provide their own financial assistance or help them to obtain assistance from other community organisations.
I would also like to thank Dr Lily Neo for her suggestion for MOE to coordinate MCYS to provide a comprehensive assistance scheme. We will continue to work closely with MCYS to develop programmes that provide the necessary support and guidance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. For example, students from families on MCYS’ Public Assistance Scheme automatically qualify for MOE’s Financial Assistance Scheme and receive a 100% subsidy for examination fees. However, we should not go too far in making all forms of financial assistance automatic, as this could create an entitlement mindset amongst some parents. We want parents to stay engaged and play an active role in their children’s education, rather than passively waiting for handouts to be given to them automatically.
In conclusion, and in coming back to the issue of reducing attrition, reducing attrition and thus ensuring our students finish at least 10 years of school with an opportunity to pursue some form of postsecondary education or skills training is one of many ways we can level up our society. Every child we keep in school is one child less in the street and one child less for the underworld to prey on. Every child from a dysfunctional family with adequate schooling and subsequently a good job will be two less dysfunctional families in the future. These students are not the easiest to help nor inspire. I acknowledge and thank the schools, teachers and community leaders who have put in a lot of effort, time and thought in addressing this issue. These are the areas where results come slowly and sometimes packaged together with heart-breaks and setbacks; but for every starfish somehow abandoned on the shore that we put back to sea, the ‘Wei Rongs, the Mui Fans’, it is a starfish we saved, worthy for itself and for society.
Thank you.