UNFIT enlistees will spend eight weeks in a fitness training programme to prepare them for Basic Military Training (BMT), starting from December.

This is being done because half of all new recruits fail to make the grade in fitness tests when they enlist for National Service.

Currently, about 50 per cent of the more than 20,000 new enlistees each year fail to achieve at least a Silver standard in the National Physical Fitness Award (NAPFA). Those who fail must go through a four-week training programme, called the Physical Training Phase (PTP), before the start of BMT. The new policy means the length of the PTP will be doubled.

Explaining the change in Parliament on Thursday, Second Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said the move was designed to enable a more uniform level of fitness among recruits when BMT begins.

?Four weeks of PTP does improve their physical performance, but even after...many still do not reach the same level of fitness...compared to their peers who were enlisted directly for BMT,' said Dr Ng.

The overall duration of two years full-time National Service remains unchanged. He added that even eight weeks of PTP may be insufficient for those in poor physical condition. Noting that the duration of NS has already been reduced to two years, MP Maliki Osman (Sembawang GRC) asked Dr Ng if the PTP extension might affect the armed forces' operational readiness.

But Dr Ng was quick to stress that 'this does not compromise our ability to forge a strong SAF.' He said that there is a 'natural limit' to how much PTP can be extended, and added that the Defence Ministry is working with the Education Ministry to improve the fitness levels of pre-enlistees.

The polytechnics are also doing their part. All five polys are introducing or planning new fitness and training programmes.

Latest figures from MOE show that male poly students are falling behind their peers in the junior colleges in the fitness stakes. From 2003 to 2007, 75 per cent of the Junior College graduating batch attained a silver or gold standard in their NAPFA test.

By comparison, only 20 per cent to 30 per cent of their poly counterparts achieve similar standards during the same period.