SPEECH BY MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, ACTING MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, AT THE 45th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE SINGAPORE SCHOOLS SPORTS COUNCILS AT THE AUDITORIUM OF HWA CHONG JUNIOR COLLEGE ON SAT 17TH JANUARY 2004 AT 9.30AM

Providing Greater Opportunities for Student Participation in Sports and Rugged Activities

Mr Hawazi Daipi, Parliamentary Secretary

Mr Wong Siew Hoong, Chairman, Singapore Schools Sports Council,
Mrs Tan Peng Eng, Chairman, Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1.             I am very pleased to join you at this 45th Annual General Meeting of the Singapore Schools Sports Councils.

2.             May I first congratulate both the Primary and Secondary Schools Sports Councils for another fruitful year in promoting sports and sports excellence among our students. The efforts of the two councils have benefited all pupils, quite apart from the most able sportsmen amongst them.

PARTICIPATION AND EXCELLENCE IN SPORTS

3.             Each year, the two Schools Sports Councils organize 26 National Schools Competitions for Secondary Schools and Junior Colleges, and 18 for Primary Schools. There has been a steady increase in the number of students taking part in these competitions - from 25,000 in 1997 to over 32,000 in 2003 in the case of secondary school students, and from 18,000 to more than 19,000 for primary schools.

4.             This expansion in participation in inter-school sports is commendable. What has also been encouraging is that several of the special training schemes that have been put in place are beginning to bear fruit. MOE's Co-Curricular Activities Branch (CCAB), together with the Schools Sports Councils, has training schemes for top talents in sailing, gymnastics and soccer. We have also been working closely with the National Sports Associations to share manpower and physical resources to train our combined schools teams.

5.             In the recent 22nd SEA Games held in Vietnam, 44 school athletes represented Singapore, making up about 15% of the national contingent. Collectively, our school athletes contributed one third of the medals that Singapore won in the Games (37 of the 113 medals). These included five Gold medals.^* The five athletes who brought home Gold medals were Jed Elliot and Jacqueline Lim from ACJC, Bernadette Lee from RGS, Jason Ho from RI and Tan Li Si from TJC. Together with the other school athletes who won medals in the Games, they carry a torch for their generation, and for the many young athletes who will come after them.

6.             Let me mention two of these outstanding athletes. Jason Ho was one of the table tennis players selected to play in the Games, from the national training squad of 10. It was unprecedented that a boy of just 15 years was representing Singapore in Table-Tennis. In fact, the next youngest player in the Men's Table-Tennis competition was 24 years old. The Games were an eye-opener for him as he saw top players in action. The Singapore Men's team was not expected to win the Gold medal as the Thais were the strong favourite. But they pulled together and after a stunning performance upset the Thais 3 -1 in the Finals. Jason attributes his success to the support of his parents, school, teachers and coaches. He also learnt how to balance his schoolwork with the demands of a punishing training schedule.

7.             Another athlete I wish to mention is 12-year-old Nur Atikah Nabilah, who was last year in Methodist Girls' Primary, and the youngest athlete at the SEA Games. She won a Silver medal for Gymnastics. She has been with the CCA Branch Gymnastics Centre of Excellence since its inception in 2000. It was a tough year for this young girl as she had to juggle four to seven hours of daily training with her preparations for the PSLE. Nabilah's mother tongue is Malay, and it was a minor feat in itself to train and communicate with her coach from China who could speak only Chinese. The commitment and perseverance, of both Nabilah and her coach, enabled her to overcome all obstacles to achieve a Silver medal. Nabilah is now in secondary one at MGS, and the nation will I am sure be seeing much more of her.

8.             I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to the schools, the teachers and coaches, and the parents, for their strong support, care and dedication in preparing our young athletes for the recent SEA Games.

9.             Each of these athletes personifies the resilience and desire for excellence that we want to build in our youth. As we move into our next lap, we must do more to develop this toughness of spirit among young Singaporeans, and desire to go well beyond what is commonly achievable.

PROMOTING RESILIENCE THROUGH SPORTS AND RUGGED ACTIVITIES

10.             This is why we have to do our utmost to provide our children with a holistic and broad-based education, with a strong emphasis on activities that develop a certain tenacity and strength of character among our young. Sports and other rugged activities, such as outdoor camps or expeditions and uniformed groups, lend themselves most naturally to building these qualities. They also instil in students a sense of adventure, and camaraderie. Sports, in particular, provide valuable opportunities for students to challenge themselves, to train and sweat for years with their team-mates, to strategise on the move, to win with humility and lose with grace, and ultimately, to contribute to their school and nation.

11.             It is not just physical resilience that we seek to develop. Everyone knows that it is a remarkable steel of mind that makes Tiger Woods the sensation that he is, not the fact that he has one of the most athletic frames in the business. As it was the mental composure, the ability to take the pressure of international competition and not be overawed by more experienced competitors, that allowed young sports talents like Jason Ho and Nur Atikah Nabilah to bring home medals from Vietnam.

MAKING SPORTS AND RUGGED ACTIVITIES MORE BROAD-BASED

12.             The sports experience is not just for potential champions. Every student can benefit. Every student should be provided the opportunities to engage in the rugged experiences that allow him to develop the resilience and team spirit that will hold him well in life, and make him a valuable member of the community.

13.             MOE is exploring ways to encourage more broad-based participation among our students in rugged activities like sports, games and the uniformed groups. We will provide students, particularly those who are not involved in competitive sports, with more opportunities to participate in sports and other rugged activities. We are taking a broad look at what can be done to achieve this without increasing the overall curriculum load of students or the workload of teachers, and while retaining the role of student choice in CCA. We will provide more details later. Let me touch this morning on a few aspects.

14.             Currently, for the majority of secondary school students, exposure to sports and rugged activities is limited. What they have is the school's PE programme and one residential camping experience during their secondary school years. The PE programme is integral to school education. It provides opportunities to play a wide variety of sports and games. Schools should ensure that the PE periods within the curriculum are used principally for the teaching of sports and games skills, instead of using PE lessons solely for physical conditioning to prepare their students for NAPFA tests.

15.             Schools can also do more to leverage on the House System, which was re-launched in 2000, as a platform for students' participation in sports within the school. The House System has much to offer in developing team spirit and leadership among students who remain in their respective houses for 4 or 5 years. Mass sports events like games carnivals and sports meets could be organized under the House system, to provide more scope for broad-based participation.

16.             To bolster the House System, and to create more opportunities for student leadership and initiative, athletes with a certain level of playing skill may be selected by their school to be trained as sports officials and coaches. The CCA Branch will be launching two new courses in March this year - the Student Sports Coach course, and the Student Sports Official course, both 8-hour modules. At the end of their course, the student sports coaches should be able to teach basic sports skills to beginners or students who are not in any sports CCA. They will then become a valuable pool of leaders in the House System.

17.             We also want to provide our students with more opportunities for adventure and residential camping experiences. During my visits to the MOE Adventure Camp, the Outward Bound School and the NPCC adventure camp in the last few months, I have observed the wonderful exposure to outdoor life, and team and personal challenges that they provide for our young - the vast majority of whom would have never tasted life outside our built-up estates.

18.             Schools are currently required to provide at least one camping experience per secondary student over the 4 or 5 years. But we can go further. MOE will encourage schools to provide every secondary school student with two residential camping experiences during his or her secondary school years. Some schools like Boon Lay Secondary already provide two such experiences and aim to provide every student with three. The Adventure Centres run by MOE and other organisations can provide at least one of the camping experiences. The other could be a "camp on campus" within the grounds of the school. Perhaps parent volunteers can help to organise such camps on campus.

19.             More students should also be given the opportunity to participate in adventure camps abroad. And where they do so together with students from the neighbouring countries, they will build friendships and familiarity with the youth of their generation in the region, that will be education in itself.

FORMATION OF ZONE SPORTS DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

20.             I am also pleased to announce today that a Sports Development Committee has been set up in each of the Zone Schools Sports Councils. The role of these committees would be to moot and promote sports development programmes that could be organized for students who do not represent their schools in sports. The sports development programmes should be recreational and enjoyable in nature and aimed at generating greater participation in sports. By exposing our students to sports in a fun and enjoyable manner, we hope that they will develop a lifelong interest in sports and healthy recreation. And that as fathers and mothers eventually, they will teach the same habits to their kids.

HEALTH AND FITNESS IN SCHOOLS

21.             Let me now turn to the Trim and Fit (TAF) Programme, which is currently in its 12th year of implementation. The specific objectives of this programme are to improve the physical fitness level of our students and reduce the percentage of overweight students.

22.             Our schools have shown considerable progress since the inception of the TAF Programme. The pass rate in the National Physical Fitness Award Test has improved from 58% in 1992 when the TAF Programme first started, to 81% in 2003. The percentage of overweight students has been reduced from 14% to 10%.

23.             This morning, the Ministry of Education is presenting a total of 275 schools with 129 TAF Gold and 146 Silver Awards in recognition of their efforts and achievements in the TAF scheme. In addition, the Ministry of Defence is presenting 14 junior colleges and 2 centralised institutes with the MINDEF Physical Fitness Performance Awards.

24.             I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all award-winning schools. The results and achievements in the TAF Programme have been made through the concerted efforts of schools to develop students' physical wellness and engage them in healthy living. They typically reflect a whole-school approach, one that involves all stakeholders - school leaders, teachers, canteen vendors and parents - in providing a conducive environment in school and at home for students to pursue a healthy lifestyle. Many of our schools have succeeded because they provide students with varied fun-filled physical activities, besides ensuring that only nutritious and health-giving foods are offered in their tuck shops.

25.             I would like to commend all our schools for their dedication to this important effort. Keep up the good work to help our students stay healthy, trim and fit. The ancient motto mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body) is as relevant as ever. Intellectual ability is limited if it is not housed in a healthy body. The mind cannot function optimally if the body is weak. And the evidence is overwhelming that regular exercise and good nutrition increase productivity at every stage of life.

26.             I am pleased to welcome the Singapore Sports School as a member of the Council. With the Sports School coming on board, we have the opportunity to expose our school athletes to higher standards of contest. There can only be good coming out of this, and I know a number of our schools are already looking forward to the competition.

27.             Before I end my address this morning, I am pleased to announce that Mr Wong Siew Hoong, Headmaster of Raffles Institution, has been re-appointed as Chairman of the Singapore Schools Sports Council. Mrs Tan Peng Eng, Principal of Greenridge Primary School, has also been re-appointed as Chairperson for the Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council.

28.             It is now my pleasure to declare the 45th AGM of the Singapore Schools Sports Councils open. I wish you another exciting and fruitful year ahead. Thank you.


^* 3 of the Gold medals won were for Swimming and Fin Swimming, 1 for Table-Tennis and 1 for Badminton.