Singapore 2010: education at the heart of the Youth Olympic Games

© SYOGOC

9 January 2009

Preparations for the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) gained

further momentum at the end of the year with the launch of two new programmes: the Olympic Education Programme (OEP) and Friends@YOG. “Since Singapore won the bid to host the 2010 YOG, our schools have been actively organising various activities to intensify the YOG buzz. These two new initiatives will further lay the foundation for a successful and memorable YOG event in 2010”, said IOC member and Chairman of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (SYOGOC) Ser Miang Ng at the launch ceremony.

Friends@YOG
Under “Friends@YOG”, each of the 360 Singapore schools will be “twinned” with one of

the 205 National Olympic Committees.” It will be a fun and exciting learning journey for our students as they cultivate a global mindset through the forging of international friendships, learning about other countries’ cultures and developing respect for cultural diversity”, underlined Ser Miang Ng.

Friends@YOG aims to achieve the objectives of:

• building international friendship through collaboration and cultural exchanges among young people;

• promulgating the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect;

• cultivating among young people a global outlook, a passion for sport and good

habits that are part of a healthy lifestyle.

Olympic Education Programme
With the launch of the Olympic Education Programme (OEP), youngsters in Singapore will have more opportunities to experience and embrace the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. They will also get to better understand the diverse cultures of the world. All schools will receive the specially designed “Living Olympism” Education Resource Package as part of the associated teaching materials. Teachers can draw on the various interesting ideas in the package to develop innovative learning activities for students to acquire knowledge about the Olympic Games and understand the Olympic spirit in a fun way.