FUNDING FOR SPORTING ACTIVITIES FOR DISABLED

FUNDING FOR SPORTING ACTIVITIES FOR DISABLED

30.

Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (a) in each of the last three years, what is the amount that the Government spent year on sporting activities for the disabled and how does this compare with other countries; and (b) whether more can be done for the disabled who are non-athletes to help them lead a sporting and active life, as much as their disability will allow.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan: The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) provides funding to the Singapore Disability Sports Council (SDSC) to conduct a variety of sporting activities for different disability groups. The level of funding has increased over the past three years from about S$1.25 million in FY 2007, S$1.34 million in FY 2008 to S$1.47 million in FY 2009. The funding supports national competitions such as the National Disability League and Learn To Play programmes covering a variety of disability sports, to encourage persons with disabilities to take up sports for recreation. This does not include other indirect support by SSC, such as facilities rental and provision of Sports Medicine and Sports Science services for disabled athletes.

Our National Sports Associations also run programmes for the disabled. For example, the Equestrian Federation of Singapore co-ordinates overseas competitions and provide training support for disabled athletes. The Singapore Swimming Association and Singapore Sailing Federation lend their support in terms of planning, coaching and other technical expertise to SDSC’s programmes. This is in line with our philosophy of having inclusive programmes, and consequently more sporting options for the disabled. This also means we do not have sufficiently segregated data to make meaningful comparisons with other countries. We will be looking at ways in which a better comparison of data can be made in this aspect.

The Government also works in partnership with the private and people sector to help the wider disabled community to lead a sporting and active lifestyle. The Enabling Masterplan 2007 – 2011 provides for persons with disabilities to have access to sports for recreation, rehabilitation and competition. Since the inception of the Masterplan, we have seen the school and social service sector implementing measures to cater to the sporting needs of the disabled. For example, most of the 20 Special Education (SPED) schools managed by MOE have included physical education as part of their curriculum for recreation, rehabilitation and competition. Across the social service sector, disability voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs) also promote sporting and various physical activities for persons with disabilities.