Sports...What Do They Actually Want?

This is supposed the time of the year when Sports Day is being carried out... that was until a sudden directive from the Education Department yesterday to postpone it to May; even though some schools have carried it out. (See how insignificant sports is these days, this is only the 6th week of schooling and for some, the sports season is already over) Apparently some of them had gone for a study tour in Australia, and were impressed by how sports is run there... the details given to us are sketchy.

Anyway, we've been told to push our sports later so as to give more time for students to get trained. That is so us, now. Instant reaction without much thought. Sports is dead in most schools, except for sports school like BJSS.

Picture this... sports practice. Students are warned that if they don't come, punishment will be meted; i.e. run round the field, caning, fines, etc. So, students show up. They are asked to run round the field once and sent home. That is how some sports practices are run now. And some teachers go for practice in their stilettos with attires to match.... looking ridiculously out of place. There are now very few teachers who were once athletes themselves during their school days.

And it's appalling how few teachers actually know how to teach proper techniques of throws, jumps, even baton passing! This despite PE being a core subject at teachers' trainee courses.

Once upon a time, they used to take in those with sports inclination for the teaching profession. Then they switch policies and took in those who had no where to go... And when the teaching profession got a boost of 'better' service terms, the teaching courses suddenly became quite difficult to get in universities. However, years of emphasis of cramming to score at the expense of games and other co-curricular activities took its toll... Not forgetting too the teaching profession generally is no longer appealing for those who are more talented...

In my last few years, I've come across trainee teachers who sit in the classes and teach, sleep with their saliva drooling down in the staff room, etc, etc.. There are still some exceptional ones but these are generally far and few.

So Sports Day to be delayed so as to give students more time to be trained.... I think it can be a good thing. But the system is too rife with the shortcomings of our own doing to have it actually work.

And the biggest joke is probably this.... the MOE has slashed more than RM4.5 million from the annual MSSM budget. This year we're only given RM1.5 million for the running of games and sports. Last year's budget was RM6 million! You can read more here and here. Many games and sports events are being cancelled! And the biggest joke is even squash has also been axed. We've the World No.1 women player, Nicol David and it is being axed. LOL! Most of the Under-15 events are also in the same situation. Talk about training the next gen of athletes, or even a holistic education...

As a friend of ours was saying... sometimes it's hard to justify why our kids need to go to school when they feel they don't need to. School sometimes seems to do the harm that it's supposed to overcome in the first place... we continue to be dumbed down by poor leadership, planning, double standards, lopsided assessments, excessive paperwork.... and increasingly, uninspiring people.