I REFER to the reports and letters debating the issue of whether schools are being treated more like businesses instead of an institution for education. Some expressed dissatisfaction over the closure of certain co-curricular activities (CCAs) because of the failure to produce results. Others criticised the fact that students view CCA participation as a means to beef up their resumes.

It has been almost a decade since CCA morphed from its previous entity, Extra-Curricular Activities (ECA). Yet, CCA is still seen as something extra, something that can be sacrificed when the occasion calls for it.

This is a negative view and doesn't reflect well on our education policies. CCAs are meant to be an integral part of a well-rounded education; to nurture resilience, tenacity, confidence and perseverance and help prepare students to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

But how can these qualities be effectively achieved if our schools do not offer students such opportunities generously enough?

We should offer a more balanced emphasis between CCAs and academic demands. For a start, we can model our mainstream education system after that of a liberal arts education.

CCAs such as sports, dance or even social service can be inducted into the curriculum as subjects or electives. This will persuade students to concentrate fully on their interests without having to worry about not spending enough time on mainstream subjects.

For example, a student can take up football as a subject and work on it.

Assessment will be done to have his competence graded and he can pursue higher levels of the sport in future.

This way, schools do not have to worry about the 'profitability' of a CCA. Furthermore, students who are passionate about non-mainstream areas of study can be more assured that their choices are justified.

Most importantly, the public mindset must change. Although Singapore's humble beginnings might have instilled a sense of pragmatism, such a sense should not hinder the pursuit of diversity among our students.

Current and future generations must believe that there is more to expect from the system than just perfect scores.

John Huang Yinghui

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Apr 4, 2008.