KUALA LUMPUR: The decision to drop 11 sports from the national schools sports (MSSM) calendar this year did not go too well with all the parties. And it has led to a call for a major review of the school sports system.

Last week, the Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) were one of the 11 national sports associations (NSAs) who appealed to the Education Ministry for their sport to be reinstated on the calendar.

The others out of the MSSM programme of championships are bowling, archery, table tennis, rugby, cricket, sailing, softball, handball, cross country and chess.

While a decision on their appeals are pending, the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s (OCM) secretary general, Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, wants all the parties to review the objectives and functions of the MSSM.

“Is the MSSM complementing or duplicating the programmes of the NSAs? We are always hosting events without reviewing whether they had benefited us or not,” he said.

“Some NSAs have age-group tournaments. Do they still need to be in the MSSM programme? Do all sports have full representation from all states in MSSM championships? Or do we find only a small group of competitors in some sports?”

Last year, gymnastics did not have full representation of the states at the MSSM championships.

“Perhaps it’s time to look into our school programme and decide how best it can complement with the NSAs.”

Kok Chi, however, agreed that funding was important for NSAs to run their programmes and applauded the Malaysian Lawn Bowls Federation (MLBF) for being independent.

“Lawn bowls has not been under an MSSM programme. But the association have found ways to work together with several schools in the state to run their junior development programmes. Sometimes, the NSAs will have to make the initiatives,” he said.

Early this year, the Education Ministry dropped a bombshell with their decision to give little emphasis on sports when they slashed the annual budget for the MSSM from RM6mil to RM1.5mil.

Due to limited budget, the MSSM decided to stage championships for gymnastics (artistic and rhythmic), golf, swimming, athletics, badminton, netball, basketball, volleyball, sepak takraw, football, tennis and hockey.

Source: The Star Online