Inaugural batch of 11 graduates from first S’pore boarding school programme for disadvantaged teens

Boarders are required to return to the campus by 4pm if they do not have any after-school activities, and by 7pm if they have co-curricular activities.

On weekdays, they are given extra classes and enrichment activities. As part of a study buddy programme, student volunteers from NUS and Victoria Junior College go to the campus a few times a week to help the boarders with homework.

Tutors from self-help organisation Mendaki also guide students during afternoon study sessions.

Math tuition became fun when tutors drilled in on his weak points like algebra, said Xavier.

Students can also join interest-based electives like 3D printing, gym fitness, and photography programmes on campus.

They can stay at the facility for up to six years, or until they enter tertiary institutions like polytechnics or ITE.

What Xavier most appreciated was the staff, who lent him a listening ear when he faced emotional dilemmas. “I like to ‘disturb’ them,” he added.

During his retail internship on the IKEA shopfront, secured with the help of =Dreams, Xavier found that he enjoyed talking to customers.

Inspired by his mentor on campus, he also started hitting the gym nearly every day for four months.

“I built a lot more muscle, I was so skinny when I started,” he said. “I became more confident in myself.”

When Xavier starts his studies in ITE in 2026, he will return to =Dreams as a residential mentor to help his juniors.

“In the past three years, =Dreams has done so much for me and provided so many opportunities for me to better myself, academics and aspirations-wise. The only way I can pay them back is by contributing,” he said.

For Vivian, 16, coming to =Dreams gave her a space of her own. At home, she shares a study table and bed with her 14-year-old sister.

The Bedok View Secondary School student lives in a one-room public rental flat with her parents, sister, and her 19-year-old brother, who is in polytechnic.

Her dad, who works as a packer, and her mum, a housekeeper, heard about the opportunity through Vivian’s tuition centre at the Chinese Development Assistance Council.

At =Dreams, Vivian quickly settled in, decorating her desk with art, flowers and photos with family and friends.

Vivian clinched the local scholarship by SJI International, earning a spot in the school’s two-year International Baccalaureate diploma programme.

“I’m very proud of it, because I genuinely did not think I would get it,” she said. “I’m very happy, because it’s a pathway that I think will help me reach my goals easier.”

In preparation for graduation, =Dreams executive director Juliet Tanuwira said the staff helped Secondary 4 boarders plan their next steps, prepare portfolios and get ready for interviews.

Vivian’s interests lie in psychology and gaining international exposure.

After internships running sports camps for pre-schoolers and volunteering with special needs programmes with social service agency APSN, she hopes to study psychology in Britain, and specialise in helping children with special needs.

Not all the boarders experience the same success.

Each year, around 20 per cent of scholars drop out or have their programme terminated for reasons ranging from changing family circumstances and disciplinary issues to safety considerations for themselves or those around them.

Ms Tanuwira said =Dreams works with social workers and schools to support the child if changes unfold.

And some, while managing to complete the programme, struggled more than others.

Dyan Nurul Qaseh Puteri Azman, 16, attended school irregularly for six months after a fallout with her best friend from school.

But Dyan continued at =Dreams, showing up for extra study sessions and eventually sitting her N-level exams, to everyone’s relief.

Dyan and her 20-year-old brother live with their mother, who is unemployed, in a two-room rental flat in Eunos. Their parents are divorced, and their father works as a kitchen helper.

Her EAE application to study beauty and wellness management in ITE was rejected, but she will be trying to apply again to the institute.

She now regrets skipping school, and said she has learnt to think about longer-term consequences of her actions.

The first batch of =Dreams students attended their graduation night on Nov 15.

“What encouraged us most…. was the steady shift in their self-belief. They see their own strengths more clearly, to speak with more assurance, and to take ownership of the paths they want to create for themselves,” said Ms Tanuwira.