It has all the elements of a good mobile app game, with players selecting their avatars and shooting obstacles, searching for hidden objects and answering quiz questions, complete with pulsating theme music.
But this gaming app, launched last month, is for those training to be Singapore prison officers.
It took 1½ years to create the app and incorporate it into the training curriculum. The timing of its launch could not have been better, with the Covid-19 pandemic putting a temporary stop to training attachments at the physical prisons.
The first group of trainees to use the app, called the Mobile Interactive Training Application, showed the media at the Home Team Academy in Choa Chu Kang on Aug 28 how it works.
One of the trainees, Sergeant Muhammad Jaffariz Siddiq Ahmad Azeri, said the app has helped him to visualise the prison environment. "It's engaging, and, at the same time, it actually gives us a picture of what to expect when we go for ground training," said the 25-year-old, who began his training about two weeks ago.
The app comprises seven challenges across three intensity levels, as well as three milestone quests at the end of each level. They test the trainees' knowledge of concepts in topics covered in the course.
Sergeant Neo Fang Ning, 26, another trainee, said she uses the app when she has time to herself in her bunk. "We use this app for our pre-class preparation, so we go through the app first and take down the questions we are unsure of, and then when the lesson resumes, we can ask our trainers."
The app can be accessed on the trainees' Singapore Prison Service-issued tablets.
The new training tool is expected to benefit an average of 100 officers undergoing the prison officer course at the Singapore Prison Training Institute every year.
Chief Warder Cheang Wei Ting, a training instructor, said the app comes in handy, as "different learners have a different learning pace".
The instructor added: "I believe that the knowledge retention is actually much more than if it's just classroom lectures. Through fun, they can retain the knowledge better."
