True story. At the school where I teach (population 2300 students), 2.8% of the students earn failing grades. The principal made the focus of this year's instructional efforts to reduce this number as close to zero as possible. So many flaws in this thinking - but that's a RL coincidence on this number
Have you tried letting the students flip courses until they find the ones that they want so that they get to do more of the things they enjoy, resulting in them being more engaged and experiencing a more personal narrative ?
I hear it works wonders compared to a more rigid standalone course structure.