Youth and Sports Ministry has no objection to including e-sports in schools (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Youth and Sports on principle, has no objection to the proposal to make e-sports a syllabus or co-curriculum in schools.
Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said this was due to the fact that the field was gaining traction, and had received international recognition when the Olympic Council of Asia agreed to list the sport at the 2022 Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.
"Research needs to be done in terms of implementation, to ensure success and sustainability in producing professional e-sport athletes and players in the future," he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here, today.
He was replying to a question by Nik Mohamad Abduh Nik Abdul Aziz (PAS-Pasir Mas) who wished to know about the government's proposal to make e-sports part of the co-curriculum in schools.
However, Saravanan said the matter was subject to approval from the Ministry of Education, as it involved the school syllabus.
Saravanan said for now, the ministry through the National Sports Council had set up an Electronic Sports Unit and was collaborating with the Malaysian Electronic Sports Association in drafting short-term and long-term plans to train more athletes for the sport.
"This cooperation also discusses the coordination of all domestic e-sport activities, including championships at the national level, and is expected to be included in the Malaysia Games (SUKMA) in the future," he said.
In the meantime, he said there were now more than 30 institutes of higher learning that had set up an e-sports club, and participated in competitions organised by e-sports agencies.
He said this included the Universiti Tenaga Malaysia, Taylor's University, Universiti Selangor, Multimedia University and Monash University.
Among e-sports athletes who had created a name for themselves in the sport were Chai Yee Fung (best 'Dota' player in Malaysia and South East Asia), Aiman ??Azham (popular 'Counter Strike' player in Malaysia and best South East Asian player) and Amirul Afandi (Malaysian and Southeast Asian 'FIFA' champion), he added. — Bernama