Extending beyond school-based efforts to support students’ holistic development

We thank Ms Li Zhuo Jia for her views on students’ participation in co-curricular activities (CCAs) (“学校课外活动应更个性化及包容, Jul 17”).

CCAs are integral to our students' holistic development, serving as platforms for students to discover their interests, develop character and social-emotional competencies, and cultivate a lifelong love for a chosen activity.

Our schools provide diverse CCA offerings across physical sports, visual and performing arts, uniformed groups, as well as clubs and societies to cater to the varied interests of our students. Schools are resourced to ensure that students can develop the necessary skills to meaningfully participate and grow within their CCA, regardless of their initial proficiency level.

Schools do their best to cater to student interest in CCA allocation. However, allowing students to join a CCA of their choice has its limitations, and we are mindful of the trade-offs that come with this. For example, in schools where certain CCAs are significantly more popular than others, allocating students their first choice CCA may lead to the discontinuation of less popular CCAs, thereby reducing options for some students. Given finite manpower and facilities, there is a limit to the number of CCAs each school can provide and the number of students for each CCA. As such, secondary schools may need to conduct selection trials for popular CCAs. To provide a more inclusive approach to CCA participation, most primary schools have transitioned away from CCA selection trials, and many offer some sports CCA at a recreational rather than competitive level.

To address the trade-offs and broaden students’ access to a diverse range of activities, we have started to enable students from different secondary schools to come together to pursue shared interests, through collaborations between specific schools, or through the centrally-run Strategic Partnership CCA. MOE is exploring the expansion of such offerings to provide students with a broader spectrum of activities.

We note Ms Li’s concerns about students’ physical activity levels. In schools, students are encouraged to lead an active and healthy lifestyle through the Physical Education (PE) curriculum. Students participate in at least two hours of PE lessons every week, where they learn good health habits, such as regular participation in physical activities and healthy eating.

Beyond school-based efforts, parents play a key role in nurturing and reinforcing good health habits in their children at home. For example, parents can encourage their children to participate in outdoor activities after school and on weekends. Participating in sports or physical activities together also presents a good opportunity for parent-child bonding.

The Ministry of Education and schools will continue to support students' holistic development and well-being, and invite parents to join us in this endeavour.

Mrs Eugenia Lim
Divisional Director, Student Development Curriculum Division 2
Ministry of Education

学生全面发展有赖共同努力

谨答复《联合早报·言论》于7月17日刊登的李卓佳作者评论《学校课外活动应更个性化及包容》：

我们感谢李女士就学生参与课程辅助活动（CCA）提出的意见。

课程辅助活动对学生的全面发展至关重要，是学生发现自己的兴趣爱好，发展品格与社会情感能力，以及培养对所选活动终身热爱的平台。

我们的学校提供多样化的课程辅助活动，包括体育运动、视觉和表演艺术、制服团体，以及俱乐部和学会，以满足学生的不同兴趣。无论学生最初的水平如何，学校都会为他们提供资源，确保他们能够掌握必要的技能，有意义地参与课程辅助活动，并在活动中成长。

在课程辅助活动的分配上，学校会尽量配合学生的兴趣。然而，允许学生参加他们所选择的课程辅助活动，存在局限性，我们须注意这样做所带来的利弊得失。例如，在个别课程辅助活动更受欢迎的学校，让学生参加他们首选的课程辅助活动，可能会导致较不受欢迎的课程辅助活动被迫停办，从而减少一些学生的选择。由于人手和设施有限，每所学校可提供的课程辅助活动种类，以及每项活动的参与人数都是有限的。因此，中学可能需要为热门的课程辅助活动进行选拔。为了让参加课程辅助活动的方式更具包容性，大多数小学已不再为课程辅助活动进行选拔，许多小学也提供一些娱乐性而非竞技性的体育课程辅助活动。

为了解决这些问题，扩大学生参加各种活动的机会，我们已开始通过特定学校之间的合作，或通过统一开办的课程辅助活动策略伙伴计划（Strategic Partnership CCA），让来自不同中学的学生聚集在一起，追求共同的兴趣。教育部正在探讨扩大这项计划，为学生提供更广泛的活动。

李女士对学生的体育运动量感到担忧。学校通过体育课程，鼓励学生过积极健康的生活方式。学生每周至少要上两个小时的体育课，学习养成良好的健康习惯，如定期参加体育活动和健康饮食。

除了学校的努力之外，家长在培养和加强孩子在家的良好健康习惯方面，也发挥着关键作用。例如，家长可以鼓励孩子放学后和周末参加户外活动。一起参加体育活动或运动，也是建立亲子关系的好机会。

教育部和学校会继续支持学生的全面发展和促进他们的身心健康，也请家长与我们一起努力。

陈允晶
教育部学生发展课程司(第二司)统筹司长