The school on Clementi Road will run 16 'specialist diplomas' for graduating students in courses such as Franchise & Enterprise Management, Theatre Arts and Event Hosting, and Marine and Offshore Technology.

Students who take up these six to nine-month long courses will intern three days each week at participating companies, and go to school on two.

The post-graduate diplomas, which have 320 places, cost $500 for Singaporeans after after government subsidies. The school will give them an allowance of $300 for transport and meals, if companies do not.

The new courses are one component of the 'NP Advantage', a one-time $2 million package aimed at 2,300 students graduating in May.

Said Mr Chia Mia Chiang, 56, principal of NP: 'The job market this year is not so rosy, and many of our students may not get a job. We thought about what NP could do.'

Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.