Such activities have been suspended since February last year, after a 15-year-old student died following an incident at a camp programme in SAFRA Yishun.
Outdoor education operator InnoTrek co-founder Mike Lim said his firm is revisiting the idea of using body cameras that it had initially tested, to see how these can be extra pairs of eyes to look out for safety gaps.
“We need to have a few more pilot projects to see how these body cameras can come in handy to assist us in our operations,” he added.
Mr Lim, who has been guiding students to overcome their fears through such activities, said: “All the schools and kids that we spoke to, or even parents and teachers, are very excited, because high-elements bring out a lot of different learning points and are good tools for character development.”
However, the height-based outdoor adventure learning activities will come with enhanced safety measures.
For instance, all operators offering height-based activities for students from MOE schools must have their facilities regularly accredited by a National Sports Association or a regional outdoor adventure learning professional body.
This is to make sure that their facilities meet the safety standards for operation and training.
Mr Lim said the enhanced measures are fair and doable, but added that participants have to look out for their own personal safety too.
From February to the end of March, accredited operators running challenge course activities will resume with 50 per cent or less of their normal operational capacity.
MANPOWER CHALLENGES REMAIN
But amid this optimism, challenges such as a labour crunch still remain.
“There is a severe lack of manpower. Not just in the height-based related activities, but it’s also in other disciplines,” said Mr Delane Lim, honorary secretary of the Outdoor Learning and Adventure Education Association.
“We are like any other sectors, in food and beverage or retail, that are having a manpower crunch. So one of the immediate priorities right now is to also look at how we want to attract, develop, as well as to retain talent in this sector.”
More roadshows and recruitment drives are on the cards, as the association aims to boost manpower by the first half of next year.
Some observers have suggested recruiting polytechnic students in related courses.
This content was originally published here.
