From next year, the National Physical Fitness Award (Napfa) will be conducted for students on alternate years, instead of annually. This will allow schools to conduct a wider range of physical activities during physical education (PE) lessons.

The change was announced on Thursday by the Ministry of Education which unveiled a new holistic assessment that will be introduced into the PE syllabus in all schools from 2016 to support students engaging in a wider range of activities.

The assessment will include the students' participation levels in PE, attainment in different physical activities, demonstration of values and attitudes during PE lessons, and self-directed physical activities with their families and friends.

The PE syllabus will also be revamped next year. At the primary level, the new syllabus will focus on allowing students to acquire fundamental movement skills through a range of varied physical activities. At the secondary level, the syllabus will focus on developing the students' skills in at least six physical activities and sports. Secondary school students will also have to participate in three intra-school recreational sports competition.

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat had announced in August that every secondary school student will have to take part in friendly matches with their schoolmates, under a new PE syllabus which aims to encourage recreational sports.

The initiative will be progressively rolled out to primary schools and junior colleges in the next three years.

While the programmes will be different for students at different levels, it shares the same aim of spurring students to be active even after they leave school.

The Ministry also hopes to inculcate values through sports.