SINGAPORE: The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) will kick off in Singapore in 2010, but the buzz has already started.

From next year, all schools - from primary to pre-university levels - will get a special Olympic education resource package which teachers can use to teach students about the Olympic movement.

Under a second programme, Friends@YOG, each Singapore school will be paired with one of the 204 national Olympic committees.

This means during the YOG, the students will get to take part in various activities with the YOG athletes from their twinned committee.

But while not all students can be top athletes, Education Minister Ng Eng Hen says his ministry hopes to encourage participation in at least one sports activity for every child.

Dr Ng said one encouraging sign is the increase in the take-up rate of the Sports Education Programme (SEP).

This year, 94 per cent of schools have opted into the SEP, as compared to 85 per cent of schools that opted for the programme in 2007.

The programme is also slotted to be extended to Special Education Schools next year.

- CNA/yt