The Applied Learning Programme (ALP) aims to add value to the students’ holistic development vis-à-vis the development of relevant 21^st Century Competencies (21CC) in real-world contexts and provide opportunities for students to transfer and apply knowledge and skills across different subject domains and contexts.

Centred on the contextual theme of Health and Food Science, the programme provides students with learning experiences to nurture curiosity, develop creativity, and ideate or propose solutions for real-world problems in STEM-related contexts.

In Tier 1 of the Applied Learning Programme, Secondary 1 students are engaged in research and investigation to enable them to learn and understand real-world problems through inquiry relating to the Health Promotion Board’s (HPB) initiatives to promote healthy living in Singapore. Health and Food Science topics on diabetes, food analysis, food microbiology, probiotics in food are covered in the curriculum. With the knowledge gained from these lesson modules, students are encouraged to be creative and innovative in proposing solutions to improve the lives of people from different age groups and lifestyles.

The Secondary 2 programme, on the other hand, focuses on research and investigation in the area of food safety and food security from farm-to-table. Students learn about food farming in Singapore and how to make use of microcontrollers to build devices and sensors to measure and regulate the pH levels of soil used and monitor other growth conditions for growing specific crops. Students also propose and design prototypes of growing systems that may help Singapore strengthen its food security and achieve its “30 by 30” goal which is to grow enough food locally to meet 30 per cent of our nutritional needs by 2030, using less than 1 per cent of the available land area in Singapore.

In Tier 2 of the Applied Learning Programme, students who express interest in STEM and Health and Food Science engage in research projects and compete in Science and STEM ALP competitions at the national level. Other opportunities to deepen the knowledge in Health and Food Science are also provided for the Tier 2 programme such as student work attachments and learning journeys to the relevant industries.