Education Minister Ng Eng Hen on Thursday announced that his ministry will increase contributions to the Edusave Accounts for primary and secondary school students to enable them to join CCAs.

The ministry will remove the age cap - at 16 - for secondary school students who are eligible for these accounts. About 9,700 students will gain from this change. While upper primary and secondary school students have a raft of CCAs to choose from, primary one and two pupils are often neglected as they are seen as too young to be spending long hours in school. Currently, it is not compulsory for primary school pupils to join CCAs.

Considerations such as incorporating CCAs into curriculum time so that students do not need to stay back, and safety will have to be made for younger pupils, but school administrators said the benefits of exposing them to CCAs from a young age make these efforts worthwhile.

Bukit View Primary principal Jenny Law said having young children pick up an interest and master it builds confidence and determination.

At her school, students get to try out one CCA each term during their 'Mass CCA Day' held every Wednesday morning. For example, students can join line-dancing, ethnic dance and rugby sessions.