1) Overview of main mental health issues facing Singapore students today.

This i got from hwee boon's email, one of the website link she provided:"16,487 children sought psychiatric help at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in 2002. 2,485 of them were newcomers. Of the children seeking help at IMH, 4 in 10 were suffering from a learning disorder or attention deficiency and only 1 in 10 from emotional disorders. (Source: The Straits Times, October 5, 2003) "

Then from here I plan to go on abt the learning disorders, and attention deficiency first. i think i can refer to my textbook and articles regarding this. there are some in the notes too. for example - dyslexia, autism, adhd...
den emotional disorders - this would be things like depression and anxiety disorders, attempted suicides. and this is of course mainly due to the stress our students face in the education system.

"35 percent of Singaporean children surveyed in UNICEF Survey 2001 said that getting good grades made them happy. Exam anxiety was one of the main causes of unhappiness among the children. Nearly half of the children surveyed said they would be sad if they did not perform to expectations in school."

all this can be referred to the notes we are given. so i think u can give a pretty decent piece for part 1 if u read through ur notes already.

2) How do I manage these problems as a counsellor?

case management
going back to lynette's notes abt case referrals, i can safely say that learning disabilities is a 100% referral case - first to the LSP (learning support coordinator) in our sch, and if the need be, maybe to CGC or Guidance Branch for testing.

3) Common types of psychological and behavioural problems in primary schools.

primary schools : 7-12 years old, mostly.
i found the last benny bong's lecture gd, the part where he broke the common problems down on one piece of mahjong paper.
"primary 1 - sch refusal, pri 2-3 - inappropriate behaviour, friendship, bullying (victim), learning difficulties... and so on."

and again these topics are covered in lectures. shirley tan's school refusal, for example.

4) How to deal with student who repeatedly fails tests and exam?

again, I will refer to lynette's case management and referrals, the part abt networking.
teacher, parental involvement important
to find out how is student's attendance, daily school work.

if it's bad, find out wad is going at home. make necessary referrals.
if attendance is gd, family is ok, but bad at academics, maybe student has learning difficulties. referral.
if it's mainly attitude, work with the student. empowerment, setting goals.
if borderline fail, might need to seek tutor. if family low income, might refer to family service centre or religious organisations for subsidised tuition.
to monitor frequently.