Ministry of Education press release

144 Junior Sports Academies' (JSAs) student athletes graduated and received their certificates of participation at the 1st MOE-JSA Graduation Ceremony 2009 today.

The students are from four JSAs, which were first set up in January 2008, to supplement the sports programmes in schools and provide more opportunities for student athletes who wish to excel.

With hard work and commitment, these JSA student graduates have completed a 2-year JSA training programme. Some have also represented Singapore at regional and international competitions.

MOE will continue to identify and develop young athletes at these centralised sports academies, where resources are collectively harnessed to provide systematic training to realise the athletes' potential.

The training philosophy of the JSAs emphasises the long-term development of athletes. Hence, MOE has developed the Athletes Profiling and Tracking System (APTS) to track and study the long term physical and sporting development of these students into adult athletes.

APTS will capture information such as height, weight, National Physical Fitness Awards (NAPFA) results and sporting achievements till they are 30 years old. The information will help athletes in setting short and long-term goals for training. MOE sports officials can offer sporting advice and guidance when the need arises.

The APTS can also provide a platform for continual communication and sharing between the graduates and MOE sports officials on useful information such as nutritional and exercise tips.

Background

The objective of the Ministry of Education's Talent Development Framework for Sports is to systematically identify and provide development opportunities for talented athletes within the school system.

The Talent Development Framework focuses on three key strategies:

  1. Development of talented athletes in primary schools through MOE Junior Sports Academies;
  2. Enhancement of the support of the Singapore Schools Sports Teams; and
  3. Enhancement of resources for schools' talent development efforts.

In 2008, MOE piloted four Junior Sports Academies. Another eight new JSAs were set up this year.

Venue – Sports – Start Date

  1. Henry Park Primary School – Badminton – Jan 2008
  2. Chung Cheng High School (Main) – Wushu – Jan 2008
  3. Singapore Sports School – Netball, Swimming, Table Tennis & Track & Field – Jan 2008
  4. Singapore Table Tennis Association – Table Tennis – Jan 2008
  5. Anglican High School – Badminton – April 2009
  6. Anglo-Chinese (Primary) – Swimming – April 2009
  7. Catholic High School – Wushu – April 2009
  8. Yio Chu Kang Primary School – Soccer – April 2009
  9. Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School – Shooting – July 2009
  10. Nan Hua Primary School – Table Tennis – July 2009
  11. Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School – Fencing – July 2009
  12. Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' (Secondary) School – Table Tennis – July 2009