Para Sports in Schools during Physical Education or Character and Citizenship Education Classes
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Yip Pin Xiu’s proposal to include para sports as a basic experience in school Physical Education or Character and Citizenship Education classes. Minister Ong Ye Kung responded that inclusive sports are currently promoted through para events in the National School Games and the Play Inclusive collaboration. He highlighted that nearly every mainstream school has a teacher trained in Inclusive PE to help students of all abilities participate and enjoy sports together. While the Ministry seeks to foster appreciation for diverse abilities, the Minister stated that care is taken before introducing specific topics as compulsory activities. MOE prefers to engage students through existing lessons in an organic way, which can be more effective for fostering mutual understanding.
Transcript
52 Ms Yip Pin Xiu asked the Minister for Education whether he can consider including para sports as a basic experience across all schools in PE or Character and Citizenship Education.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: MOE promotes inclusive Physical Education (PE) and sports through multiple avenues. Para events have been introduced at the National School Games (NSG), in Swimming, Track and Field, Tenpin Bowling and most recently Shooting. These para events have attracted steady participation from our Special Education (SPED) Schools and mainstream schools annually.
MOE also supports Play Inclusive, a collaboration between Special Olympics Singapore and SportCares. During the inaugural event in 2018, 450 participants comprising athletes with intellectual disabilities partnered with students from mainstream schools to play badminton, basketball, football and floorball. The number of participants doubled in the 2019 edition.
In addition, almost every mainstream school is currently resourced with a teacher trained in Inclusive PE to enable all students with varying abilities to enjoy physical activities and sports together. Through these activities, students gain a better understanding of each other, including those with special needs.
We will continue to explore ways that meaningfully meet the needs of our diverse profile of students, while helping them appreciate those with different abilities. But like many other meritorious topics, from climate change, computer coding, social equity to financial literacy, MOE will take great care before introducing them as compulsory subjects or activities. We can engage students in these topics through existing school lessons or activities, in an organic and interactive way, which can be more effective.