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Outdoor adventure education standard of practices in Singapore to be reviewed

Outdoor Adventure Education at Safra Yishun.
Outdoor Adventure Education at Safra Yishun. (SCREENSHOT: Google Maps)

SINGAPORE — Changes are afoot for outdoor adventure education (OAE) in Singapore, with a review of its accreditation framework among the suggested enhancements.

The Outdoor Learning and Adventure Education Association (OLAE) said in a media release on Tuesday (18 January) that it is working with various stakeholders to create enhancements for the OAE sector.

It is inviting experts from other disciplines, as well as key stakeholders such as the National Youth Council-Outward Bound Singapore, to participate in the discussions on safety and training standards.

Suggestions include a review of the OLAE standard of practices and its accreditation framework to ensure quality service standards are met among service providers.

The proposed changes come after the tragic death of a 15-year-old Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) student at Safra Yishun in February last year, after he had purportedly lost his footing while participating in a high-element course.

According to OLAE, there are about 40 OAE service providers in Singapore, organising activities for both students and adults. In 2019, an estimated 2,000 OAE activities were organised in the city-state.

“The numbers of activities has slowed down quite a bit because of the pandemic, but we expect 2022-2023 to see a rebound. As such, we thought it would be an opportune time to relook our industry standards and protocols,” said OLAE secretary Delane Lim.

The proposals come three years after OLAE launched its first industry-standard of practices in 2018, to provide operational and competency guidelines as well as technical references for OAE activities.

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