Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Separate Sports Division Under Education Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR: Sports will become a full-fledged division under the Education Ministry as part of efforts to strengthen sports development in schools, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.

This was among the decisions reached at a meeting on Wednesday, March 17, chaired by Muhyiddin, who is the Education Minister, to restore the glory of sports in schools starting next year. At the moment, the sports section is under a division together with arts and curriculum. The sports division will have its own director and assisted by four deputy directors. "We have also decided that 5% out of the 10% marks for co-curriculum activities be given to involvement in sports activities," he told a news conference after chairing a meeting of the main committee on sports development in schools at parliament house here. He said the "1Student 1Sport' policy would also be enforced.

The meeting also decided to allocate more manpower such as special teachers to carry out sports development in schools which would be done in stages, he said. Muhyiddin said the allocation for sports would also be increased from the current rate of RM2.40 per student to RM4 for primary students and RM6 for secondary students. "We will also rearrange co-curriculum schedules and may incorporate the teaching of sports during school hours so that students need not come back at later hours and so as not to inconvenience them and their parents," he said.

He said the ministry would find ways to implement so without affecting the time allocated for academic studies or increasing the school hours.Muhyiddin said the ministry would also improve sports infrastructure in schools.

He also said that state governments and local authorities would be asked to allow schools, which were without facilities, to use their fields and halls to carry out sports activities. "In our survey, nearly 90% are able to implement the '1Student 1Sport' policy. As for the remaining 10%, we shall see what the problems are," he said.
Muhyiddin said sports development in school was beneficial to the country because through sports, students could learn to appreciate the spirit of cooperation and sharing of noble values irrespective of race or  religion. "When Datuk Lee Chong Wei won the All England, no one asked him whether he was a Chinese or a Malay... he is a national champion and we are all proud of him. We want this spirit to be imbibed in the hearts of our children," he said.

Muhyiddin said sports development in the school would not neglect the needs of disabled students and the ministry would think of ways to get them involved in the activities. — Written by Bernama, Wednesday, 17 March 2010 21:44

0 comments:

Post a Comment