It will allow teachers to access all the records on the students and track them even as they move from class to class or school to school.

The system will enable teachers to reach out early to those in danger of dropping out, said the Education Ministry's Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Masagos Zulkifli in Parliament on Wednesday.

'Through the system, teachers can also get a better profile of at-risk students, so that they can follow up in addressing the students' learning and counselling needs consistently,' he said.

Students at risk of dropping out typically display such warning signs as high absenteeism rates, little or no participation in school activities or programmes, and little interest in academic work.

Mr Masagos also told the House his ministry had successfully reduced the rate of school dropouts to 1.5 per cent last year, which works out to about 500 to 600 students. Previously, the rate was 3.6 per cent in 2002 and 5.3 per cent in 1997.

He was replying to Dr Amy Khor (Hong Kah GRC) and Ms Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC).

Dr Khor suggested that schools rope in the community, either grassroots organisations or the MPs, to help these children, who tend to be from dysfunctional families that may have money problems.

'The grassroots might also be familiar with the parents and are in a better position to persuade them to take an interest in the child's education,' she said.

Ms Teo noted that youth who do not continue their education beyond secondary school would add to the 17,000 or so jobless Singaporeans under the age of 30. Mr Masagos said 93 per cent of students progress to post-secondary institutions such as the Institute of Technical Education or polytechnics.

His ministry has financial aid schemes for poor students and under a programme called Youth Link, social workers would coax dropouts to return to school. He urged more grassroots organisations to pitch in by contacting schools directly.