Singapore To Open School For Dropouts

A new school to cater to dropout students will open in Singapore by January next year.

The new school named NorthLight School will enhance vocational programme with a strong emphasis on social emotional needs.

Every year, there are about 1,200 students who drop out of school, or about 2.6% of the cohort. The NorthLight School will provide a useful learning experince for these kids over a 3-year vocational programme.

The school will place a strong emphasis on socio-emotional needs and character development to avoid the high drop out rate of 60 percent that vocational centres currently experience.

Education Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said: "It will place emphasis on developing emotional resilience and instilling essential life-skills such as taking responsibility and managing relationships. These will take up a greater share of curriculum time."

At NorthLight parents will be more involved in the students learning process that is designed more to day-to-day life activities. Students can also look forward to a 10 week-long industrial attachment .