Committee On Reducing Attrition In Education

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26 October 2006

COMMITTEE ON REDUCING ATTRITION IN EDUCATION

1. The Ministry of Education (MOE) has set up a Committee on Reducing Attrition in Education to study how the school dropout rate in Singapore can be reduced.

2. At the Teachers’ Day Rally on 31 August 2006, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong spoke about the Government’s wanting to reduce the school dropout rate in Singapore from 3% to 1.5% over the next 5 years. Although the dropout rate is not high, we want to do more to help children at risk to remain in school, by working with the children, parents, and the community.

3. Chaired by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, the Committee comprises Members of Parliament, officials in MOE and MCYS, school leaders, and other stakeholders. The composition of the Committee is at Annex A.

4. The Committee will have two main areas of work. First, to identify strategies that will enable at-risk students to stay in school. Second, to develop a framework that enables support to flow smoothly from the school to the community and vice versa so as to prevent students at risk of dropping out from doing so. This includes efforts that involve government agencies, self-help groups, grassroots clubs and voluntary welfare organisations.

5. The Committee will conduct consultative sessions with various stakeholder groups, school leaders, teachers, and students. It will also review the local and overseas best practices and programmes that are effective in the prevention of dropouts. The Committee targets to finalise its recommendations by June 2007.