Speech by Mr Masagos Zulkifli, Senior Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Education, at the 2007 Trim and Fit Award Ceremony on Monday, 19 March 2007, 1500 hrs at MOE Edutorium

SPEECH BY MR MASAGOS ZULKIFLI, SENIOR PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, AT THE 2007 TRIM & FIT AWARD CEREMONY ON MONDAY, 19 MARCH 2007, 1500 HRS AT MOE EDUTORIUM

1. It is my pleasure to be here at the 2007 Trim & Fit Award Ceremony. I wish to commend all schools for your efforts in health promotion.

2. The Trim and Fit (TAF) Programme, which is in its 15th year of implementation, has played an integral role in improving fitness and reducing the overweight percentage among our students. Between 1992 and 2006, the physical fitness levels of our students improved from 58% to 81.4% while the overweight percentage has been reduced from 14.0% to 9.5%. All these would not have been possible without the concerted effort of all schools.

3. This afternoon, I am pleased to note that a total of 307 schools are receiving the TAF Gold and Silver Awards in recognition for their efforts and achievements in the TAF Programme for 2006.

4. I am also delighted to see a total of 11 Junior Colleges and one Centralised Institute receiving the MINDEF Physical Fitness Performance Award (MPFPA). Millenia Institute will receive the Best Performer Award and Anglo-Chinese Junior College will receive the Most Improved Award.

5. The TAF Programme has been effective in raising physical fitness and reducing obesity of our students. Moving forward, I am glad to note that schools are now embarking on a holistic approach in health promotion through the Holistic Health Framework.

6. The Holistic Health Framework (HHF) was first announced by MOS Gan Kim Yong during the CHERISH Award ceremony in 2006. The thrust of the Holistic Health Framework is on the total well-being of each student. Thus, schools’ health promotion efforts are now broadened to include physical, mental and social health. It is necessary for every student to be given opportunities to develop the skills and attitudes to live healthily. Quality delivery of health activities will help build students’ motivation to sustain a healthy lifestyle even after they leave school.

7. It is important for school leaders to envision how the Holistic Health Framework (HHF) would manifest in their schools. Schools that have implemented the Holistic Health Framework would be distinguished by three key school characteristics that build the total health of students.

8. The first key characteristic is that of a Supportive School Culture and Organisation for total health of students. This means that a school with Holistic Health Framework will have a shared vision in health promotion of their students. For example, the staff at Rulang Primary School has embarked on an envisioning exercise that resulted in the inclusion of students’ total well-being as one of their strategic thrusts. This thrust is owned by a committee that consisted of staff from various subject areas. This committee reviewed current health promotion processes, built on existing resources and drew up a concerted action plan for promoting holistic health of their students.

9. The second key characteristic is a Comprehensive and Relevant Formal and Non-Formal Curriculum to build the total health of students. The main vehicle in the delivery of Holistic Health Framework is through the curriculum. For example, after a review of the health programmes by the staff at North Vista Secondary School, they began to focus on strengthening the delivery of physical health components through Physical Education, Home Economics and Co-curricular Activities (Sports). Components on mental and social health are delivered through Civics And Moral Education and Social Emotional Learning lessons. The review resulted in the streamlining of activities that would generate more impact with the limited resources that schools have.

10. This brings me to the third key characteristic is that the schools will have Synergistic Collaborations and Partnerships for health promotion. The total well-being of every child is a shared responsibility of parents, schools and the community. Parents play a vital role in cultivating healthy habits in their children and schools need parents to support their health promotion efforts. Schools are encouraged to actively seek out resources and expertise that can be found in agencies like the Health Promotion Board, Singapore Sports Council and People’s Association. Monetary support is also available through the Health Promotion Grant by Health Promotion Board and the Sports Education Programme (SEP) Grant by Singapore Sports Council.

Transition from Trim and Fit Programme to Holistic Health Framework
11. This year will be the last year of implementation for the Trim and Fit Programme. This means that schools will complement the management of fitness and obesity with the mental and social dimensions of health. Schools will be given time to develop and strengthen the different components of the Holistic Health Framework.

12. I am heartened that MOE will work closely with schools to help them set their processes for total health of our students in place over the next 3 to 4 years. This period of about 3 years will provide schools time as we recognise that each school is at a different stage of progress and level of readiness in the area of health promotion. We will want to see every school come on board the Holistic Health Framework by 2010.

Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH Award
13. To complement the Holistic Health Framework, a Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH Award would be given in 2008 to recognise schools for their health promotion efforts. The Joint HPB-MOE CHERISH Award is included in the MOE Masterplan of Awards.

Conclusion
14. In conclusion, I would like to encourage all schools to continue their hard work in developing our students’ total well-being. With this, alIow me to wish you a meaningful and healthy year ahead, and heartiest congratulations to all award winners !