Girls in Scouting (from SL Tan Sheau Gang on 20 July 2006)

[art60214]

From: art60214 (Original Message) Sent: 20/07/2006 14:39

The New Paper ran a feature report about introducing girls to Scouting
on 12 Jul 06 (see below). Subsequent reports by TNP on 15 Jul 06 (see
below) reflected mixed reactions from "regret" expressed by the
Singapore Girl Guides Association and worries about replication of
activities in schools that have strong girl guide companies. Ministry
of Education (MOE) has approved HQ's proposal (submitted two years
back in 2004) to recruit girls in schools for Scouting activities with
effect from January 2007, enabling them to join the Cub, Scout and
Venture sections in schools apart from the Rovering activities that is
already open to both genders. Previously, girls could only join
Scouting outside the MOE system (i.e. open or community scout
groups).

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Girls can join scouts as CCA
MOE allows scouts to recruit girls in primary & secondary schools from
next year
FROM January next year, girls will be able to join their male
schoolmates as scouts.
By Tay Shian

13 July 2006
FROM January next year, girls will be able to join their male
schoolmates as scouts.

Currently, school girls can only join the girl guides, not the scouts
which accepts only boys.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has announced that it has granted
permission to the Singapore Scout Association (SSA) to recruit girls
in primary and secondary schools.

Previously, though SSA opened its membership to both genders, it was
only allowed to recruit boys in schools.

Girls who were interested to join usually do so on their own accord,
outside of school.

In an e-mail sent to all 357 primary and secondary schools yesterday
afternoon, the ministry explained that the move was to give students
'flexibility and more choices in CCAs'.

Also, girls have been participating in scout activities in many
countries, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong, for
many years.

An MOE spokesman said parents and schools were consulted on the
change, and the response has been supportive.

The announcement comes as sweet news to SSA chief commissioner
Nicholas Tang. He told The New Paper that SSA had first proposed the
idea to MOE about two years ago.

He said: 'In this whole region, Singapore is the only one without
girls in scouting in schools.

'We felt that we need to keep up with the times. The rest of world has
already changed. We feel that girls can also benefit from the scout
programme. It's suitable for all genders.'

There are currently more than 150 young and adult female scouts, out
of over 10,000 scouts in Singapore.

Said Mr Tang: 'Although we told the girls they won't get any CCA
points, they said it's all right.'

NOT SEPARATED

He noted that in the past few years, three girls had received the
President's Scout Award, the highest scout award for youth members.

Mr Tang explained that girls will wear the same scout uniform as the
boys.

They will not be separated in two different groups in school, as the
purpose of having girls in scouting is to see them develop through an
integrated and common programme.

An MOE spokesman said: 'Similar to other uniformed groups, schools
need to ensure that female officers are present for all overnight
activities.'

SSA will also be writing a letter to schools soon and organising a
briefing for schools interested in admitting girls later this year.

The announcement was welcomed by principals like Mrs Edelweis Neo of
Dunman Secondary School. She said: 'Every year, a handful of girls
would come up to us saying they are keen to join scouts. This would be
a good opportunity for them.'

It was good news too for Ms Joanne Lio, 20, who joined scouts when she
was 17 and went on to win the President's Scout Award last year.

She said: 'All along when I was in secondary school, I wished there
was female scouting, but there wasn't, so I had to find an alternative
and join another uniform group.'

Added Madam Rafeah Awang, 34, who has seven children aged 8 to 17:
'It's good. It's more challenging, and girls can learn to be tough.'

But some had reservations.

Mrs Tan-Soon Eng Peng, vice-principal of Cedar Girls' Secondary, said
that her school already has two strong girl guide companies.

She said: 'We wouldn't want to stretch our resources by offering
something similar.'

SOME UNHAPPY
Mr Tang acknowledged there are some who are unhappy about girls
joining scouting.

Girl Guides Singapore chief commissioner Yvonne Lim said the decision
was 'regrettable'.

She explained that Lord Baden-Powell, who founded both scouts and
guides, had started a separate programme for girls as there are
fundamental differences between boys and girls.

She said the guides would remain a single-sex organisation.

Said Ms Lim: 'In the long run, we are confident that parents,
principals, teachers and the girls themselves will realise that we
have a very established, relevant and strong programme, specially
developed for girls and women - by girls and women.'


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So keen, they became scouts without earning CCA points

15 July 2006
JUBILATION. That's the word Mr Lim Lai Chuan, principal of North Vista
Secondary School, used to describe his feelings when he found out that
girls were now allowed to join scouts as a co-curricular activity
(CCA).

For the past year, there have been five girls in his school who are so
'on' about scouting that they have been taking part in all the
activities - without CCA points.

He said: 'I quickly e-mailed all those concerned. The policy has been
reversed, and we are all very, very happy.'

Mrs Helen Chong, the school's PE/CCA head of department, explained
that when the schools' guide unit closed in 2004 after the teacher-in-
charge left, 12 of the more than 20 guides decided they wanted to join
scouting.

So the school wrote to the Ministry of Education to let them take it
as a CCA, but their request was turned down.

Said Mr Lim: 'They said it was not in their policy to have girls in
scouting. We were quite disappointed.'

He was also worried for the 12 girls. They had taken part in scout
activities for several months, decided they loved it and stuck with it
- but were not getting CCA points.

These can cut up to two points from a student's aggregate score for
admission to junior college.

So he decided to re-open a guide unit for them at the beginning of
this year.

But five of the 12 decided they were so 'hardcore' about scouting that
they would stick with it.

One of them was Secondary 2 student Lim Hwee Fang.

She said: 'I stayed because I like scouts. I can learn a lot of
things, build structures, sometimes camp and have campfires. All these
rough things, girls also can do.'



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Will Scouts and Guides compete for members?
Some unhappy that girls can now choose scouting as an CCA
THE decision to allow girls to join scouting as a CCA in primary and
secondary schools has caused a stir.
By Tay Shi An

15 July 2006
THE decision to allow girls to join scouting as a CCA in primary and
secondary schools has caused a stir.

While some are overjoyed at the Ministry of Education's announcement,
others are not.

Girl Guides Singapore (GGS) chief commissioner Yvonne Lim said: 'It is
regrettable that approval was given for the Singapore Scouts
Association (SSA) to recruit girls into scouting.'

This is because scouts and guides - seen as brother and sister
organisations - will now 'compete' for members, said GGS deputy chief
commissioner Jessie Tan.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who founded both scouts and guides almost
100 years ago, had created two organisations because of the
'fundamental differences' between the sexes, she said.

'Or he wouldn't have started two separate movements,' said Ms Tan.
(See report on facing page.)

So, she said, GGS would remain committed to being a single-sex
organisation catering to the needs of girls and women.

The scouts now focus on non-formal outdoor-based education for all
youth, while guides seek personal development for girls in home,
community, outdoor and international settings.

Mrs Chua Yen Ching, 47, principal designate for NorthLight School and
vice-president of the guides' national council, said there would
always be a place for guides.

She said she developed confidence and leadership skills after becoming
the teacher in charge of guides 20 years ago.

Singapore Chinese Girls' School guide Christina Chew, 16, agreed.

She said: 'It doesn't just teach you rugged skills, but homecraft
skills. Nowadays, we are losing those skills traditionally taught to
girls.

'We can't have a whole population of girls with no skills like cooking
and tending to family.'

But the scouts have a different take.

Said one scout leader, who has been in scouting for 12 years: 'When
Baden-Powell wrote Scouting For Boys, in that era and time, girls were
not supposed to do what scouts do - running around in the jungle,
going to camp. It was virtually unheard of, which is why he designed a
special programme for the guides.

'That was 90 years ago. Now, society has changed and the girls want to
assert their rights. What boys do, why can't they do?'

Internationally, scouting evolved about 30 years ago. It's now a youth
movement - regardless of colour, religion, and gender.

Today, 119 of the 155 countries with scouts - more than three-quarters
- have girls in their organisation. Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan are
among these.

Said SSA chief commissioner Nicholas Tang: 'We felt that we need to
keep up with the times. In this whole region, Singapore is the only
one without girls in scouting in schools. We feel that girls can also
benefit from the scout programme.'

Hwa Chong Institution student and scout Anthony Chan, 18, supports the
idea but has some worries: 'What if only one or two girls join a unit
but there are many boys? Then the girls might be marginalised.'

Han Jiaying, 16, a guide at Raffles Girls' School, added that the co-
ed environment during physical activities would be awkward.

She said: 'I would personally feel awkward and more withdrawn in the
presence of the prying eyes of boys.'

Ms Teo Hui Fang, 20, who joined scouts four years ago, said the boys
may experience some inconvenience and adjustment issues switching from
an all male to a co-ed environment.

She recounted how the scouts in her unit learned to adjust and take
her into consideration when planning activities and 'tone down' the
way they speak and behave in front of a female scout.

Some scouts, like Lim Yuan Hao, 16, at North Vista Secondary, is fine
with having girls join the CCA.

There are already five girls in his school who love scouting so much
that they have been taking part in the activities for a year without
getting CCA points.

He admitted it was 'quite a big change' at first, but he has since
learnt how to bond with them.

Tiong Yayan, 14, a girl scout at Yuan Ching Secondary, said: 'It's not
girl or boy bonding. It's scout bonding.'

More than 150 of the 10,000 or so scouts in Singapore are girls, while
there are nearly 14,000 guides here.

Mr Tang emphasised that SSA will not go on a massive recruitment
campaign for girls.

He said: 'We will leave it to the principals and educators. We are not
going to push them. If they want to start, they can start. It must tie
in with their educational goals and objectives.'

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