Two lawmakers and several representatives from the Education and Higher Education Ministries met at the Parliament building this morning.
The topic of discussion was the development of sports among school and university students. The key takeaway from the meeting was that there were sufficient policies in place to promote the development of sports but this is being hampered by poor execution.
Speaking to Twentytwo13 this evening, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, who is the MP for Indera Mahkota, said the meeting was part of the Special Select Committee on Nation-building, Education and Human Resources Development’s meeting with the two ministries on ways to cultivate a sporting culture in schools and universities.
Saifuddin, who chairs the special committee, was joined by Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman – who is also the former Youth and Sports minister, and a member of the special committee.
Referring to Perikatan Nasional’s Education Reform Plan paper, Saifuddin said: “This meeting is part of a broader discussion about our education system. It was agreed there should be follow-ups on certain areas, including sports, hence the meeting this morning”.
“One of our proposals is to change the current 90-10 ratio as the entry for university, to 70-30. Both ministries said that they were open to this.”
The 90-10 ratio is where students are judged 90 per cent on their academics and 10 per cent on extracurricular activities.
“But we are focusing on sports because it has an established evaluation system, from primary school to the Olympics.”
Saifuddin said they discussed the trajectory from primary school to universities.
“The policies are well in place, and I see that both ministries are working well with the Youth and Sports Ministry and other stakeholders. But when we went into specific topics … issues that needed to be polished, the lack of execution was a major stumbling block.
“We also need to distinguish sports as either a co-curricular activity, or an elite participation. We were trying to make sports a culture among students, but also spent time discussing the trajectory of producing world champions.”
He said among the issues raised were talent identification at the lower levels and the hunger to create champion athletes, resulting in early burnout.
“All primary schools have multilateral development programmes, especially among Year 1 and Year 3 pupils. We have to place more attention on this. By the time the student is in Year 4, we should be able to identify his or her talent. At least we know, at the primary school level itself, that this student has what it takes to become a footballer, sepak takraw player, or even a short, middle, or long-distance runner.
“We also need to strengthen the expertise of the physical education teachers, especially in primary schools. And the school (administrators) must understand that at the primary level, it’s not about winning medals but allowing children to enjoy sports. Some of these young athletes, as I call them ‘hurried athletes’, will eventually burn out.”
Saifuddin highlighted the need for a policy that encouraged school students to participate in competitions organised outside of the Education Ministry system. He also said that the Higher Education Ministry must revisit its mission of creating 30 per cent of national athletes.
“Are they already national athletes when they enter universities? Or will the university help create national athletes? These are two very different circumstances. The former is easier to do than the latter.
“I stress again that we have good policies but we need to connect the dots. There are good officers within the two ministries but I’m not sure if they are given the opportunity to voice their opinions and get things done.”
Saifuddin added there will be more of such meetings.
“We could also have informal meetings involving more MPs who understand sports.
“Syed Saddiq and I plan to raise certain issues pertaining to this during the Budget 2025 debate in the Dewan Rakyat,” he added.
