Education is an important mean of spreading knowledge and we have often said that the young are our pillars of the future. So, the most efficient way of building a receptive environment for the disabled community conducive to the support of sports would be to educate the young on disability sports issues. For this, we have set up a School Outreach Program.
Students under the School Outreach Program cooperate with the Singapore Disability Sports Council on projects such as hosting disability sports programs or developing means of raising awareness. For example, boccia practices are held at Chestnut Drive Secondary School, where students interact with the athletes and assist in the practices; the Raffles Junior College’s Track and Field team is writing a handbook on disability sports for mainstream schools. Several other School Outreach projects are underway.
The benefits of the School Outreach program are extensive:
-
Through direct and indirect interaction with athletes with disabilities, students can understand their needs and the importance of sports as a form of rehabilitation.
-
Students gain knowledge of disability sports and understand the requirements and difficulties of setting up a disability sport program
-
By involving themselves in the community, students develop their compassion and empathy.
-
By raising awareness among a group of students from the school, the spread of knowledge to other students can be more easily done.
-
By raising awareness among the young, there will be a greater chance of moulding a conducive environment for disability sports to flourish in future.
-
The disabled community have, in turn, more support from the able-bodied community to pursue sports, whether for health, recreation or competitions.
-
The aim of creating equal opportunities for the disabled can be more efficiently achieved.
-
The disabled community will be able to integrate better into the mainstream society with the understanding of others.
Our powers are limited, but with assistance from the young, the potential swells beyond imagination.
Schools who are interested in joining this program are welcome to contact us for discussions.
