Sports

Name and Constituency of  Member of Parliament

Mdm Cynthia Phua, MP for Aljunied GRC

Question

To ask the Minister for Education, from 2003 to 2007

(a)        what is the breakdown of the number of students in Primary 4, 5 and 6 as a percentage of each year’s cohort who are taking up sports as part of their CCA;

(b)        what opportunities are given to those who are not in a CCA Sport to get a taste of sports

Response

1          The proportion of P4-6 students who are taking up Sports CCAs increased from 29 % in 2004 to 33% in 2006.

2          Pupils who are not in sports CCAs are introduced to sports in other ways.  Firstly, sports and games skills are taught during PE lessons.  Teachers introduce students to three categories of sports and games namely; territorial games (like basketball, soccer and floorball), net/wall games (like badminton) and striking and fielding games (like softball).  Schools select sports and games from each category to teach their pupils.

3          Secondly, schools have introduced learn-to-play schemes to expose more students to sports and games.  From this year, MOE with the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) introduced the Sports Education Programme (SEP) which aims at providing opportunities for students who are not in CCA sports to be involved in sports through the ‘Learn-to-Play’ sports scheme.  Besides the usual sports and games like soccer, netball and basketball, schools have also introduced in-line skating, rockwall climbing, floorball and in-line hockey. SEP therefore provides students with wider exposure and opportunities to develop an interest in sports. The take-up rate has been encouraging as 155 of the 175 primary schools (89 %) have signed up for SEP.

4          Thirdly, schools organise sports day, carnivals and inter-class and inter-house competitions on a yearly basis.

5.         Taken together, these various means provide our students with the opportunities to be involved in sports on a regular basis.  Nonetheless, schools are actively looking into ways to expand the CCA Sports programme to encourage broader participation in sports for pupils in the lower primary. CCA sports will be promoted vigorously to give more opportunities for pupils from the primary level upwards to experience and enjoy sporting activities.