OPENING ADDRESS BY MR HAWAZI DAIPI, SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF MOE DAIRY FARM ADVENTURE CENTRE AND THE INAUGURAL OUTDOOR EDUCATION CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY, 5 NOVEMBER 2004, AT 9.00 AM.

 
Distinguished speakers and guests

Principals and teachers

Ladies and Gentlemen

INTRODUCTION
1      It gives me great pleasure to join you this morning to officiate at the opening of the MOE Dairy Farm Adventure Centre. This occasion marks yet another milestone for the Ministry of Education in its continuous efforts to provide schools with the best resources for outdoor education that is challenging and educational for our students.

2      The first MOE Adventure Centre was completed in 1986. Since then, there has been an increasing demand from schools for such centres where outdoor education programmes can be carried out. On average, about 56,000 students benefit from the programmes conducted at our 4 MOE Adventure Centres annually.

3      Strategically located, this centre is just a stone’s throw away from the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, offering one of the most ideal outdoor classrooms you can find in Singapore.  This newly developed adventure centre is specially designed for outdoor and adventure camping programmes. It is built to accommodate 300 campers at any one time, complete with amenities. It should be able to cater to another 25,000 pupils each year, if optimally utilised. Besides the challenge ropes course designed for team-building and adventure programmes as in other MOE Adventure Centres, this centre offers more than adventure programmes.

4      It will be the first MOE Adventure Centre to be outsourced to a service provider, who will be managing the operations of the centre and at the same time, delivering customised outdoor education programmes to schools that use the centre. These customised programmes are specially crafted with inputs from the Ministry to ensure that they are of high quality and guided by focused educational objectives. Just a sneak preview into the some of the possibilities –the programmes may include environmental awareness trails, bird-watching workshops, nature appreciation lessons, and even field studies, leveraging on the lush environment around the centre.

5      We will be closely monitoring the progress of this outsourced project and may even consider the outsourcing of other MOE Adventure Centres, if this partnership proves to be beneficial for schools’ outdoor education endeavours. I am also pleased to announce that there will be yet another addition.  MOE Changi Coast Walk Adventure Centre will offer some of the most comprehensive outdoor programmes that are water-based. The construction of this new adventure centre is currently underway and it will be completed by July next year. By then, we would have a total of 5 MOE Adventure Centres to cater to schools’ outdoor education programmes that are increasingly diverse and varied. It is therefore projected that every secondary school student will have the opportunity to go through at least one camping experience in one of our MOE Adventure Centres by 2006.

6       In conjunction with the official opening of the centre, today also marks the Ministry’s inaugural Outdoor Education conference. I would like to take this opportunity to commend Co-Curricular Activities Branch for taking the lead in organising such a conference that provides an excellent platform for rich sharing and deep reflection. Some of the aims of the conference are to:

        a)  explore the roles that Outdoor Education play in the existing and future curriculum and programmes in schools;
        b) discuss how the delivery of OE could be enhanced through the sharing of   best practices; and
        c) examine the role of Outdoor Education in meeting our desired outcomes of education.

7      Conferences are also good ways of keeping ourselves prepared for a changing environment. The theme of this conference "Building Resilience through Outdoor Education: Vision to Action", could not have been more aptly chosen. Recently, our Education Minister has been urging our schools to provide our pupils with a broad-based education that helps them build up resilience, robustness and ruggedness.  These traits would put our pupils in good stead to face the challenges of tomorrow.

8       Recent events have set up new dynamics in the way countries and people relate to one another in a competitive international environment. We would need to prepare our young to compete and thrive in an increasingly unpredictable global economy. How do we imbue our young with resolve and resilience, grit and determination, an indomitable spirit, and the qualities to compete and not to be afraid of competition?  CCAs play a special role in developing in our young attributes that will brace them for the future. Many opportunities exist within CCA to develop these attributes and I must say, lessons in the outdoors offer some of the most valuable experiences. Values and skills are best acquired through hands-on experience in authentic situations, and outdoor education lessons are often conducted in an environment closely resembling the real world. In the outdoor setting, experiences are frequently not as structured as those in the formal settings and they are often packed with stimuli, both desired and incidental. Individuals placed in such conditions would need to decide for themselves what to make of these experiences, forcing them to make relevant connections out of those experiences. These experiences are what counts in nurturing in our youth a flexible and robust outlook to life, so that they can thrive in an environment of change.

9       During the 2 days of conference, I am certain that you will not only gain new insights but also draw inspirations from the experiences of our distinguished speakers from UK and Australia. They have taken time off their busy schedule to come and share with us their experiences, programmes and their thoughts.  On behalf of the Ministry, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude for their generosity and I wish them a very enjoyable stay in Singapore. Besides the four overseas speakers, I would also like to applaud the workshop presenters who have stepped forward to share their ideas and insights with our school educators, amongst them are University lecturers, curators with the zoological gardens, international school teachers and even service providers. I am also certain that you will be challenged by the array of ideas generated at the concurrent workshops.

10     On this note, I wish you all a stimulating and rewarding time at this inaugural conference on outdoor education.