Schools close to each other should band together to offer sports that they may not be able to provide on their own, whether due to lack of student interest or other reasons, suggested Nominated MP Ganesh Rajaram.

Describing sports as one of the best ways for children to build lasting friendships across socioeconomic divides, he questioned how some schools picked which co-curricular activities (CCA) to offer.

Limited places can lead to a first-come-first -serve system, and sometimes schools choose to drop a sport, even one as popular as football, because they fail to excel in it. That leads to children being sent off to a CCA they have no interest in, said Mr Rajaram.

"Parents are then told, 'Don't worry, you can engage your own coach and enlist your child in a programme to participate in the sport he or she enjoys and we as a school will recognise it as an official CCA,' " he said.

"What this means is that the more affluent parents will engage private coaches for their children, and the children from less affluent families make do with playing an alternative sport which they may not like or have any interest in."

Mr Rajaram also raised the issue about the emergence of sports coaches who specialise in helping children get a place in a secondary school through the Direct School Admission (DSA) scheme.

These "DSA" coaches guarantee a place in the school of choice, even promising a refund otherwise.

"But what do these coaches actually teach?" asked Mr Rajaram.

He described how he heard of one coach instructing a child not to pass the ball to teammates during trials, so he could outshine them.

"Another child, who had no interest in any sport, was enrolled by his parents in a shooting class that guaranteed success in the DSA trials, and a place in a top school. Yes, the boy got into the school through DSA, but is now miserable as he doesn't enjoy the sport."

He also related his own experience as a parent who is a "football nut". He said he had enrolled his son in a football academy around the age of five, but observed that the child seemed to just "chase after the other children".

When pressed, his son admitted that he did not like football and was only playing it because his father loved the sport.

"I never bothered to ask him what he liked," said the NMP, who then let his son try various sports.

In his speech, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said that schools are offering a wide variety of activities formerly seen to be only available to wealthier students. Tanglin Secondary School has fencing, for instance, while Kent Ridge Secondary School offers sailing.

There is also a Junior Sports Academy, which is a two-year free sports development programme for talented Primary 4 and 5 students.

Since last year, it has doubled its capacity to about 800 students a year, with some going on to land secondary school places through the DSA system.

The academy does not scout for high performing sportsmen and sportswomen, but looks for raw diamonds - students with good motor skills and hand-eye coordination abilities - and then helps them develop their sporting skills through professional coaching, said Mr Ong.

Seow Bei Yi