By Sia Ling Xin

ALL children in primary and secondary schools will spend more time on physical education (PE) in eight to 10 years' time.

Primary 1 and 2 pupils will have half an hour more of PE each week, while the rest will get an hour more. This will raise the minimum time spent on PE to two hours a week, compared to the current one hour a week.

This increase will be implemented in phases, in step with the building of indoor sports halls in schools, the implementation of single-session classes in primary schools and the recruitment of more PE teachers.

Mr Nasrun Mizzy, who heads Beacon Primary School's PE department, said that more PE time would help pupils build on their teamwork and social skills.

The move is part of a Ministry of Education (MOE) effort to place more emphasis on PE, art and music, as they provide "excellent opportunities for students to develop a range of skills", like teamwork, said Dr Ng Eng Hen, Minister for Education, in Parliament yesterday.

He was responding to calls by Members of Parliament such as Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman (Sembawang GRC), Mrs Josephine Teo (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC), Miss Penny Low (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) and Mr Ong Kian Min (Tampines GRC), for a more holistic education that develops soft skills and values.

Schools will move towards getting teachers for art and music to specialise in the subjects, and to handle related co-curricular activities and programmes.

MOE now has 2,500 qualified PE, art and music teachers, a number that it aims to raise by 80 per cent to 4,500 in 10 years.

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