PETALING JAYA: Allowing students of private, religious and international schools to participate in district and national-level sports competitions will help foster unity among the different segments of Malaysian society, say experts.
This is because sports can potentially encourage unity through interactions of individuals from different backgrounds, they said, but cautioned that this would require government schools’ sport programmes to be adequately funded.
Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it is crucial that such opportunities are made available as sports have also become polarised.
“Football is Malay, basketball is Chinese and hockey is Indian within any particular school. However facilities and coaching must be made available equitably in order for students to become competent and truly compete on equal terms.
“PAGE supports the Minister’s idea. Even if the intended outcome of unity does not materialise, the students can at least converse in the English language or Bahasa Malaysia with one another,” she said.
Earlier, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh said a high-level committee has decided to open up the District School Sports Council (MSSD) and Malaysian Sports School Council (MSSM), which are annual sports competitions for government schools, to students from private, international and religious schools.
Azimah added that it would still take more time and effort to foster interaction between students during sports competitions.
“The games are played, the winners are announced but little interaction is made between games. There is little mingling, if at all. Nonetheless it is an idea worth pursuing,” she said.
Malaysian Unity Foundation trustee Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the move will help future young leaders to be exposed to individuals of different backgrounds as Malaysia is a multicultural country.
“Sports has the power to bring people together. I hope it will be all inclusive and all types of schools will be participating including vernacular schools,” said Lee.
Malacca Action Group For Parents in Education (Magpie) chairman Mak Chee Kin said it was a timely decision given that sports has been neglected in schools in favour of academic excellence.
He added that funds were also inadequately allocated for sport events at school and district levels.
“What we have now is just competitions at the state level and they have it only for the sake of having it,” he said, adding that the time and number of days for such competitions were also reduced.
Mak hoped that more funds could be channelled to schools for sports.
National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) secretary-general Fouzi Singon said the government must carefully consider many aspects as funding and academic calendars differed across schools.
“Organising sports events requires adequate staffing, management and sports infrastructure.
“Even now some schools are facing financial issues in managing all levels of sports tournaments due to limited allocations to the point where they have to cover the finances with participation fees,” he said.
In her announcement, Yeoh said the decision was to allow young athletes from different schools to compare themselves to a wider pool of peers.
“We want to ensure the champion of, say, a 100m race, has really competed against other children in the same age group to ensure this person is truly worthy of that title.”
Yeoh, who is also Segambut MP, said this integration of students from different education segments would also widen the sports talent development pool.
“This move has already started this year, such as with the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territories’ MSSD competition for swimming,” she said.
“We need to ensure grassroots development is extensive, to ensure good results at a high performance level,” Yeoh said after launching two new tennis courts at Mont’Kiara International School (M’KIS), an international school located in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.
