Weekly dreaded affair

This reminds me of the times when I used to dread PE lessons.


Sports for all students with new PE syllabus
14 February 12, The Straits Times by Fabius Chen

ALL Singaporean youth will be able to play at least three sports at a recreational level by the time they leave secondary school.

That is one of the main objectives that the Ministry of Education (MOE) has set as part of its role in Vision 2030 - a project jointly led by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS).

Launched last July, it is a blueprint for the Republic's sporting future.

In line with this, a new physical education (PE) syllabus will be rolled out in phases, beginning in 2014. It will include a one-hour increase in PE each week. At present, primary school pupils attend between one and 11/2 hours of PE weekly, while secondary school students have one hour.

Ms Liew Wei Li, director of the MOE's student development curriculum division, said the ministry wants to get every child to lead a physically active lifestyle through participation in sports.

With that in mind, it will identify a set of core sports which every student will be well versed in by the time they leave secondary school.

Students will be taught progressively, starting with modified games at the primary level to full-fledged sports at the secondary and junior college/centralised institute level, a ministry spokesman explained.

He added that it is part of the MOE's view of sports as an 'important part of holistic education', which can inculcate the values of 'respect, teamwork, integrity, responsibility and resilience'.

'We're quite firm on seeing how we can develop character through our PE programme,' Ms Liew noted.

The MOE's initiative is part of just one of five preliminary recommendations that the Vision 2030 committee has come up with, designed to allow Singaporeans from all walks to life to get involved in sports.

Other initiatives under the same category - labelled Opportunities - include getting private corporations involved in the local sporting scene, as well as increasing the participation rate of the elderly.

Two other key areas - Access and Capabilities - contributed another six and eight recommendations respectively.

The Vision 2030 team announced all 19 recommendations at a media briefing yesterday, after seven months of consultation with close to 2,500 people, both face-to-face and online.

The next phase, according to committee members, is getting the public's views on the preliminary list, before implementing the finalised plans in May.

'The first step was a divergence of ideas,' noted MCYS Acting Minister Chan Chun Sing. 'For the second phase, we want to seek convergence and prioritise the ideas which are most useful to take us forward.'

But whether the initiatives are aimed at increasing participation (Opportunities), reaching out to the public (Access) or increasing the talent pool of athletes and officials (Capabilities), the ultimate goal of Vision 2030 is one of synergy.

'The first phase showed that there is a great diversity of (sporting) interests,' SSC chief executive Lim Teck Yin noted.

'Vision 2030 seeks to at least facilitate these.

'We want to provide opportunities and access for all segments of society to pursue sport in Singapore.'

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Since primary school I don't really like to attend PE lessons. I find it a hassle to change into the PE attire, make our way to the school field or basketball court, then return to the classroom sweaty and smelly. Most students just wear their PE attire inside their uniforms and then take them off conveniently in the classroom when PE starts. However it's quite uncomfortable to wear double layer of clothes and it can be difficult to conceal the PE shorts completely under the normal shorts. It's simpler for girls since their skirts are longer haha.

Activity-wise I think primary school is the least stressful. We played around with cones and beanbags. Sometimes skipping ropes and hula hoops etc. At Primary 5 I got a fierce PE teacher and that was when I start to dread PE. Not to mention the NAPFA test which I always did badly at.

At secondary school my worst fears came true. PE became a weekly dreaded affair as we had to face a group of strict PE teachers who also double as discipline masters. Right from the first lesson we were drilled to pass NAPFA, especially 2.4km run which most people fail. Most lessons were spent on running and running. Those who fail to make the mark have to continue the running practice, while the rest get to play other stuff like soccer. There were just so much NAPFA-based trainings that I don't remember learning other sports.

In JC it became less dreadful. There was lesser emphasis on NAPFA training. I guess that's because most of us are already quite 'trained' in secondary school. One reason that kept me motivated to do well in NAPFA is avoiding BMT PTP haha. We had more chance to try other leisure sports activities, though most of my classmates weren't enthusiastic about PE lessons and often skipped them, especially at the end of a tiring day.

For a non-sporty person like me, PE lessons seem mostly physical drills and training. I hardly learnt any sports during these 12 years of compulsory PE.

Thinking about it now, I wished I had been more enthusiastic in PE. It isn't that dreadful actually...