Monitoring Continuity of Sports Participations of DSA Applicants and Minimising Attrition Rates among Late Developers or Less Advantaged Youths

Assoc Prof Kenneth Goh asked the Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) whether the Ministry monitors the continuity of sport participation among youths who apply for DSA (Sports and Games), including those not admitted; (b) what proportion of athletes in national youth or senior pathways entered secondary school via DSA, Singapore Sports School, or non-DSA routes; and (c) how can early selection outcomes minimise avoidable attrition, especially among late developers or less advantaged youths.

Mr David Neo: The Government does not monitor the continuity of sports participation among youths who apply for Direct Schools Admission (DSA) (Sports & Games), including those not admitted, after their schooling years.

Other than DSA, SportSG and the Singapore Sports School (SSP) work closely with partners, such as the National Sports Associations (NSAs), to allow multiple entry points into the national youth and national teams. For example, NSAs can onboard talented athletes into SSP at any point in their development, as long as they meet the performance criteria.

Our talent identification and development programmes cover a wide base and cater for athletes across different sports and ages. This includes the Learn-to-Play programmes, the Junior Sports Academy and the SSP's Multi Sport Academy, which offers Primary 6 student-athletes with strong movement competencies the opportunity to enrol in SSP to develop their athletic skills without the need to specialise in a specific sport.

Under our Sport Excellence framework, we work closely with our carded athletes, including late bloomers, or those whose sporting performance may fluctuate for various reasons, to support their sporting and non-sporting needs so that they can stay in competitive sport for as long as they can.