COA Officiates at National Education Gaming Championship 2013

The winning team from Nanyang Polytechnic celebrating after receiving the NEGC Challenge Trophy from Chief of Army, Major-General (MG) Ravinder Singh at the closing ceremony of the finals of NEGC 2013.

The National Education Gaming Championship (NEGC) 2013 was officially closed this afternoon by Chief of Army, Major-General Ravinder Singh at the Nanyang Polytechnic Atrium. In his address, Major-General Ravinder Singh remarked that "For all the participants of NEGC, I hope you had fun and learnt important gaming and also life skills through this competition. More importantly, I hope you have also come to better appreciate that what you cannot defend is not yours". NEGC is an inter-school gaming competition that reaches out to young Singaporeans with the aim of helping them gain a better understanding of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). This is the third NEGC. The first was organised in 2010.

Over the past two months, more than 1,200 students representing 38 different secondary schools, Institutes of Technical Education, Polytechnics and Centralised Institute formed 117 teams to compete for a coveted place in the finals of the championship. The final leg of the championship took place over 4 days from 24 to 27 June 2013 at the Nanyang Polytechnic Atrium.

This afternoon, the team MICT from Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) took top honours and walked away with the NEGC Challenge Trophy, a School Trophy, S$3000 in prize money and medals for the team members. The other winning teams were:

The NEGC is organised by Nexus, Ministry of Defence and supported by the Ministry of Education. It offers students a fun and engaging opportunity to learn about the 3rd Generation SAF and its capabilities. The official software used in NEGC is Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2), a PC-based simulation training software used by the Army. In NEGC, the VBS2 is modified into a first-person shooter game with specific missions and scenarios that simulate the dynamics of a reinforced Infantry Section in action.

Besides a better appreciation of the SAF its capabilities, students develop skills such as teamwork, leadership and communication in the NEGC. They also meet new friends from the various schools and institutions participating in the championship. In preparation for the championship, the 10-member teams each underwent training sessions to learn more about game play, weapons and the networked capabilities of the 3rd Generation Army. The training sessions also allowed the teams to develop their teamwork and leadership skills.

MG Singh (center) accompanied by Director NEXUS Colonel Roland Ng (right) and Registrar of Nanyang Polytechnic Mr Thambyrajah (left), observing the final match of NEGC 2013.

More Resources

Fact Sheet: National Education Gaming Championship 2013