Co-curricular activities (CCAs)

Co-curricular activities (CCAs) were a policy introduced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) back then. It was previously known as Extra-curricular activities (ECAs), which meant activities after school curriculum hours. More emphasis on CCAs was made on the secondary schools, as it would help to nurture the students’ qualities, helping them to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

CCAs are unique because Singapore is only the country to adopt this policy, making it compulsory for students to take part in at least an activity organised by the schools. Not only is this a special part of secondary school education, it also serves as a platform to develop students’ character, confidence, perseverance and many needed qualities.

By having CCAs, secondary schools are not only achieving academic results throughout the four years. Instead, it allows the students to learn a skill, develop their leadership, nurture them to be good team members, and most importantly serve as a distress activity that brings about lots of fun.

There are mainly four categories for the available CCAs: Sports and Games, Uniformed Groups, Performing Arts Groups and Clubs and Societies.

Sports and Games

For sports and games, secondary schools on the whole offer a wide variety of sports activities for their students. A few popular sports to be named will be track and field, soccer, basketball, table tennis and many more to come.

Uniformed Groups

One of the highlights of the Uniformed Groups would be the National Cadet Corps (NCC). This is the closet a student can get to experience the feeling of what national service (NS) is like. Students, be it guys or girls, are required to put on the actual army uniform, stay in army camps, and even get their hands on the latest army equipment. What is even more unique is that different schools are allocated different NCC divisions, be it air land or sea. With that, it diversifies the learning experience of the students.

Performing Arts

Performing Arts Groups are also a popular choice for students. Examples would be the Chinese orchestra, symphonic band, Chinese dance and many more. Students from these CCAs will take part in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) to showcase their talent. They will then be graded according to their performance, achieving Gold, Silver or the Bronze award.

Clubs and Societies

For the Clubs and Societies, students are also taught different skills. There is the environmental club, to increase the awareness of recycling and conserving the environment. Other clubs range from chess clubs to Chinese cultural clubs.

All in all, CCAs definitely brings about lots of fun for the students. It also teaches them something that is out of the textbook; be it a skill or great knowledge. Therefore, CCAs make secondary school education so unique that it is worth complementing on.