By Jane Ng & Amelia Tan

TEN years ago, the Education Ministry started recognising school achievements in areas beyond the books, such as the arts, sports and physical fitness.

Then four years ago, it came even further away from ranking schools only by academic results by merging the academic ranking table with non-academic achievements to give weight to achievements away from the books.

This year, the Ministry of Education also started listing schools in alphabetical order.

Schools that have done well in these new Achievement Tables include neighbourhood ones like Yishun Town Secondary, Kranji Secondary and Hai Sing Catholic School. Apart from doing well academically, they have also won Sustained Achievement awards in four non-academic areas - the arts, sports, physical fitness and uniformed groups.

Hai Sing Catholic in Pasir Ris also bagged an award for the academic help it has given its students. Principal Charles Surin said the awards recognised the processes put in place in his school.

Doing well in non-academic areas is not enough because schools need to cater to a child's holistic development.

'What we need to do is to strike a balance. As schools, academic results are the foundation stone.'

Yio Chu Kang Primary principal Toh Boon Keng agreed, saying that while results are still important, non-academic achievements give some children alternative arenas in which to excel.

But grades remain the main concern of parents. If the school also does well in areas like sports or aesthetics, it is a bonus.

Church worker Richard Chua, 52, for instance, wants his daughter Radiant, 12, to make it to Paya Lebar Methodist Girl's School (Secondary) from the school's primary school. He is impressed by the attention his daughter's primary school teachers have shown her and wants it to continue through her secondary school years.

Her teachers call him or his wife or make diary notes to update them on Radiant's progress - she bagged four As for her Primary 6 preliminary examinations without any home tuition.

But for other parents, grades are not the be-all. Receptionist Martina Lee, 46, for one, is looking for a school that also stresses character development for her daughter Marcella Chua, 11.

Schools have thus been working on non-academic areas and were recognised for their efforts.

For example, Yuhua Secondary's concert band won gold medals at the Singapore Youth Festival for the last 10 years.

At Yio Chu Kang Primary, where physical fitness and sports are key strengths, pupils work out on top of the regular physical education classes.

Everyone also gets to pick up sports - golf, archery and bowling respectively at Primary 4, 5 and 6. Primary 3 pupils undergo a two-day skills test so sporting talents can be groomed.

Principal Mrs Toh said: 'The whole idea is not to chase awards. It's to prepare them for secondary education.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 22 Sep, 2008.

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