Background

Following its restructure in August 2014, the Advisory Council on Community Relations in Defence (ACCORD) submitted 18 proposals to the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) aimed at boosting support and recognition for National Service (NS). One of the proposals is to implement pilot fitness programmes in Post-Secondary Educational Institutions (PSEIs) to build up the fitness of their pre-enlistee students before full-time NS.

Four PSEIs - Anderson Junior College (AJC), Temasek Polytechnic (TP), ITE College East and ITE College West - are implementing fitness programmes, which will involve a total of 1000 pre-enlistee students. For AJC, all JC1 pre-enlistee students are participating in the programme as part of their structured fitness curriculum. For TP, ITE College East and ITE College West, participants comprise pre-enlistee students who have been identified to have room for improvement based on their past National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA) test results and have signed up for the pilot programmes.

Through the structured programmes and targeted training approach, the PSEIs aim to strengthen their pre-enlistee students' fitness as well as imbue in them a greater sense of personal responsibility towards improving their fitness. To assess the effectiveness of the programme in improving fitness levels, the PSEIs will measure the fitness levels of participating students through NAPFA tests conducted at the start and upon the completion of the programme.

Enhanced Fitness Programme by Anderson Junior College (AJC)

AJC has fully implemented the Ministry of Education (MOE)’s Physical Education (PE) Syllabus 2014, which will equip students with the knowledge, skills and attitude for active and healthy living. AJC has further enhanced their fitness programme to strengthen students' ownership of their own health and fitness by having the PE teachers work closely with the current cohort of Year 1 students including 400 male pre-enlistee students. Students will set their personal fitness goals, and the programme will be managed by 10 PE teachers. Fitness tests will be conducted in end August 2015 and January 2016 to measure the effectiveness of programme. The PE teachers will continue to monitor students' progress beyond their fitness test in 2016.

Pilot Fitness Programme by Temasek Polytechnic

TP will be implementing a 12-session pilot fitness programme from July 2015 over five weeks. There will be two runs of the 12-session programme, with 100 students for each run. The programme will be managed by five staff and will focus on the three Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) stations. The hour-long sessions will include aerobics training in preparation for the 2.4km run, circuit training to improve their muscular endurance, strength and power required for sit-ups and push-ups, and self-directed training for students to work on their weaker fitness stations.

Pilot Fitness Programmes by ITE Colleges East and West

ITE Colleges have existing Sports and Wellness programmes (two hours per week) to prepare their students for the modified NAPFA test [1], which includes the three IPPT stations. ITE College East and ITE College West will be implementing their pilot fitness programmes and have committed additional training resources for the conduct of the programme, which will support 400 pre-enlistee students in working on their weaker IPPT stations, for up to three times per week (1.5 hours per session). The additional training sessions will focus on mobility, strength and endurance training for the pre-enlistee students. They will go through gym and physical training sessions with activities such as bicep curls, triceps extensions, bench presses, shoulder presses and treadmill runs. The training will also include circuit training, interval training, callisthenics training and 2.4km runs.

The programme will commence from 13 July 2015 and will see two runs. Eight staff and 20 student assistants from the National ITE Certificate (Nitec) in Fitness Training and Higher Nitec in Sports Management Courses will be involved in the running of the programme. The colleges will monitor the performance of the students on a weekly basis throughout the eight-week programme. Students with good participation and improvement will also receive a T-shirt and a "Certificate of Participation".

[1] Modified NAPFA tests, including the three IPPT stations, are carried out with pre-enlistees in all pre-university institutions, polytechnics and Institute of Technical Education.

STAFF AND STUDENTS’ FEEDBACK ON THE FITNESS PROGRAMMES

Staff’s Feedback

1.    “We are training our students to take greater responsibility over their fitness training. Students are able to better understand what they are experiencing and feel empowered to train themselves up during their own time and get ready to perform in IPPT in the subsequent year.” 
    
Tan Ser Yang, PE teacher, 
Anderson Junior College
 
2.      “The training sessions allow the students to re-engage in recreational fitness training and sports. It also helps them to build confidence through incremental improvements in their fitness.”

Desmond Yip, SH/Student Development & Outreach, 
School of Informatics & IT, Temasek Polytechnic 

3.    “The targeted approach towards improvements for the three IPPT stations is the hallmark of this pilot programme. This should help our pre-enlistees get exempted from the Physical Training Phase (PTP) during the Basic Military Training, provided they put in their effort and are willing to learn to do better in the new NAPFA test. I feel that the most important aspect of the programme is educating our boys on how to train, so that they can carry with them the knowledge throughout their lives."

Raihan Wapa, Lecturer, Physical Education Department, 
School of Business & Services, ITE College East

Students' Feedback

1.    “Part of the enhanced PE syllabus by the school incorporates a variety of training: Aerobic session and distance running to help build up fitness levels. We learnt different types of fitness indicators like beep test, stationary jump, one minute push-up (similar to IPPT). I have learnt to build up my fitness over time and improve my performance by setting targets.”         

Alven Lee Sheng Cheng, Year 1 student, 
Anderson Junior College
 
2.    “As a whole, the training should help me as it helps to prepare myself for the NAPFA/IPPT test. It will also teach me certain fitness training skills that can be done at home without the need of any equipment. I hope to be able to pass my test and be physically ready for my NS.” 

Chua Hong Zhi, Student, School of Informatics & IT, 
Temasek Polytechnic

3.    "I feel that the pilot programme will certainly help us get exempted from the additional eight weeks of PTP phase during BMT. The school should also conduct different re-tests to help us monitor our improvements." 

Ang Wei Choon, Student, Higher Nitec in Electronics Engineering, 
ITE College West