12 January 2002

SPEECH BY RADM TEO CHEE HEAN, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION AND SECOND MINISTER FOR DEFENCE AT THE 43RD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SINGAPORE SCHOOLS SPORTS COUNCILS AT THE PERFORMANCE THEATRE OF VICTORIA JUNIOR COLLEGE ON SAT 12TH JANUARY 2002 AT 9.30 AM

I am pleased to join you for the 43rd Annual General Meeting of the Singapore Schools Sports Councils.

2 First of all, I wish to congratulate both the Primary and Secondary Schools Sports Councils for having another successful year in promoting sports and developing excellence among our pupils. The efforts of the two councils have indeed benefited all pupils in general, and those with sporting talent as well.

3 Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) and sports have contributed significantly towards providing pupils with a balanced and holistic education. The CCA programmes in schools provide excellent opportunities for building character, team spirit and responsibility. Pupils' leadership abilities are being developed through the various CCAs. The community involvement programmes receive our continued support because they help to promote civic responsibility, community bonding and racial harmony.

4 CCA are already a key feature of our educational system, used in the admission of students into JCs and CIs. Recently, ITE has also introduced such a scheme and has announced that its CCA points are recognised as bonus points for admission into polytechnics. From 2003 onwards, CCA would also be considered for admission into NUS and NTU. They augment cognitive-based indicators such as test and examinations as they provide a measure of qualities like leadership, teamwork, passion and compassion in human endeavours. Besides academic excellence, these are qualities that are important for success in university and beyond.

5 The JCs and CIs have introduced a CCA Grading system known as PEARLS, which stands for Participation, Enrichment, Achievement, Representation, Leadership and Service, to recognise and award points for students' participation in CCA. These PEARLS points are then converted into bonus points for university admission. Similarly, the four polytechnics have jointly worked out a system to convert their respective CCA points into bonus points for university admission. The rationale behind this is the same - the polytechnics recognise the importance of holistic development of their students, and the significant role of CCA. For good performance in CCA, bonus points of up to an additional 5% of the total university admission score will be awarded. This will recognise and reinforce student efforts, while signalling that these activities are beneficial for their holistic development.

6 Last year, I announced the new framework of the Character Development Programme (CDP) to impress upon principals, teachers, parents and pupils that it is important to promote the character and leadership development of our pupils. In addition, I had also announced that 30 primary and 30 secondary schools had already decided to implement the new CCA framework. Feedback from the schools has indicated that they are in favour of the new framework, as CCA and enrichment activities will be better structured. More importantly, it now sets clear targets for every pupil and helps them to draw up a road map for themselves, during the 6 years of their primary or 4 to 5 years of their secondary school education. I have also been informed that another 40 primary and 52 secondary schools have indicated that they would be implementing their CDP this year. This is indeed a very encouraging sign and it is my hope that eventually all schools will implement the Character Development Programme.

7 Let me now touch on the Trim and Fit (TAF) Programme. The TAF Programme was launched in 1992, with the twin objectives of improving physical fitness and reducing the percentage of overweight pupils. Since its inception, the programme has helped to create better awareness in pupils, teachers and parents of the importance and principles of healthy living.

8 This can be seen in the good results achieved for the National Physical Fitness Test and the national obesity level over the past 10 years. From 1992 to 2001, the percentage of our student population who passed the National Physical Fitness Test has increased from 57.8% to 80.3%, and the national obesity level has improved from 14.0% to 10%. I would like to congratulate all schools, junior colleges and centralised institutes for a job well done.

9 It is critical that our youths today acquire healthy habits, pursue a healthy and physically active lifestyle, and stay trim and fit. This will help us to ensure a healthy and robust nation and workforce of tomorrow.

10 Obesity among children is an issue that has aroused concern in both developed countries and newly developing countries. You would have seen reports in our local media about this. In our schools, through the TAF programme and healthy lifestyle programmes we have managed to successfully arrest this trend and reverse it. It is thus imperative that we sustain our progress in the TAF programme and I would like to encourage all schools to work together hand-in-hand to help our students maintain healthy lifestyles. The school cluster setting provides a very rich platform for the exchange of ideas, sharing of good practices and effective deployment of resources among schools.

11 This morning, a total of 293 schools will receive 116 Gold and 177 Silver awards in recognition of their efforts and achievements in the TAF scheme. I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all recipients. Schools that have achieved the Gold awards consecutively for 3 years or more will receive the Sustained Achievement Award on a separate occasion later this year.

12 The revised MINDEF Physical Fitness Performance Award (MPFPA) scheme was implemented last year with the aim of encouraging all Junior Colleges and Centralised Institutes to raise the overall fitness standards of their students. I am pleased to announce that twelve Junior Colleges and one Centralised Institute will be receiving this award under the revised scheme. It is indeed encouraging to note that the overall NAPFA Gold/Silver pass rates have improved, from 70.8% in Year 2000 to 75.6% for Year 2001. In particular, the pass rates for female students have increased from 69.2% in Year 2000 to 76.8% in Year 2001.

13 I would like to congratulate the staff and pupils for making the effort to improve their fitness performance.

14 While measures have been taken to help reduce obesity amongst our pupils, schools are also taking steps to ensure good vision care for them. The Ministry of Education is working closely with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to put some general measures in place. These include limiting the amount of continuous near work that pupils do, instituting a system of vision breaks which allow the eyes to rest between classroom periods, monitoring the adequacy of lighting in classrooms and all reading areas.

15 MOE has also taken steps to provide a supportive physical environment for good vision care. Technical requirements, which support vision care in schools, have been incorporated and closely adhered to in the development of new schools and the upgrading of existing ones.

16 In addition, MOH is putting in place programmes such as Enhanced Vision Screening and targeted counselling of pupils with severe myopia as well as their parents.

17 This morning I would also like to address a few words to you about the arrests last month of the 15 persons for terrorist-related activities in Singapore. This announcement together with the details released by the Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday would have taken many of us by surprise.

18 This group was planning to carry out terrorist acts in Singapore which would have threatened the lives and safety of Singaporeans. It is reassuring that our security agencies were able to keep tabs on them and arrest them before there was any loss of life or injuries. But the actions of this group have already caused harm to Singapore by affecting the way that investors and others perceive us, and the relationship between the different communities in Singapore.

19 What do we as Singaporeans do to turn this adversity around so that we come out stronger?

20 I am glad that Singaporeans have confidence in our security agencies. We have already been putting in place a National Security Secretariat to coordinate the work of all our security agencies. This will make our security agencies even more effective in countering threats of this nature. We should all remain vigilant, steadfast and resilient. This will reassure Singaporeans, investors and visitors to Singapore.

21 Every community in Singapore has condemned terrorism and the actions of this group. Our Malay/Muslim community in Singapore has taken a mature approach to these events and recognised them for what they are - extreme acts that do harm to Singapore and Singaporeans of all communities. All Singaporeans, from all communities, should therefore stand together and condemn and isolate such extremists who resort to violence, and those who lend support to them.

22 Singaporeans from all communities should draw together and strengthen our community bonds. Our schools have an important role to play in this. Our schools are where our children come together to share a common experience, learn to live together, develop loyalties to each other and to Singapore.

23 Co-curricular activites have a special part to play in building bonds among the students within their own schools and between schools. CCA is more than just NAPFA test scores or obesity rankings or CCA points.

24 Through sports and games, playing together and competing with each, giving and taking knocks, we learn how to live with each other. Through uniformed groups we learn discipline, teamwork and perseverance. Through bands, choirs and dance we learn about different cultures; we learn how to work in harmony together, how we depend on everyone to do their part, and how we each must do our own part to harmonise with others so as not to let others down.

25 CCA activities provide opportunities for our students to mix together, enjoy each other's company and celebrate the exuberance of youth. CCAs help to break down the barriers and differences between us and give us shared experiences that bond us together.

26 We can always find reasons to be apart, why we must do things separately and cannot mix. Let us turn our energies instead to finding ways of coming together and finding ways to do things together. Singaporeans of all communities should draw closer together to strengthen our community bonds. We should not shrink into our own communities, but instead reach out to each other and expand the space where we freely interact with each other.

27 Our schools and CCA have a special and important role to play in this. I would urge all of you here today, principals and teachers to think about what more you can do to promote community bonding in your schools and make a special effort to do so during these testing times.

28 I would like to close my address by expressing, on behalf of all of us here, my sincere appreciation to Mr Moo Soon Chong, for his contributions as Chairman of the Singapore Schools Sports Council. As you know, Mr Moo will be taking up his new position as the first principal of the Sports School. We would like to wish him all the best as he takes up the challenge of moulding more of our young people as successful sportsmen and sportswomen in the years to come.

29 I am pleased to announce that Mr Wong Siew Hoong, Headmaster of Raffles Institution, has been appointed as the next Chairman of the Singapore Schools Sports Council. Mrs Tan Peng Eng, Principal of Greenridge Primary School, has been re-appointed as Chairperson for the Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council.

30 It is now my pleasure to declare the 43rd AGM of the Singapore Schools Sports Councils open. Thank you.