Sports day!
Channel News Asia reported that 144 students graduated from four Junior Sports Academies in Singapore on Saturday, 31st October 2009. After working hard for almost two years, these kids have finally finished their training.
Putting kids who have a talent for sports, into one of these training academies is a great way of practicing what the Ministry of Education says is the first goal of education – to develop an individual.
I believe that education should be able to nurture the whole child which involves not just the intellectual side, but the moral, emotional, social, aesthetic and physical aspects as well. It is somehow sad that our society gives the most attention to the intellectual development of our children at the expense of everything else. But with these junior sports academies, we know that we are slowly moving towards a holistic approach to education.
I am glad that the MOE has also developed an Athletes Profiling and Tracking System that will allow an easy tracking and study of the progress of sports academies graduates. The development of this system signifies that the MOE is really serious about nurturing the sports abilities of our little ones.
Aside from creating junior sports academies, what other initiatives do you think can the MOE come up with to foster a holistic approach to education?
Photo from: Channel News Asia
