TAIPING, July 2 (Bernama) -- Some 4.13 million students from 9,980 primary and secondary schools nationwide joined a simultaneous run this morning and set a record for having the largest participation of school students in a run.
The run, held in conjunction with the launch of the "One Student, One Sport" policy, was flagged off by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at the Dataran Perbandaran Taiping, here.
Apart from students, teachers and parents, also taking part in the run were trainee teachers at 28 Malaysian Institutes of Teachers' Education and students of 15 Matriculation Colleges throughout the nation.
At the launch here, Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, flagged off 15,000 participants from 30 secondary and 20 primary schools around the district.
The nationwide run started at 7.45am, covering a distance of 1.5km. The run here covered 1.85km and took place around Taiping Lake Garden.
Diana Paul of Malaysia Book of Records proclaimed a new record for the simultaneous run, which involved a total of 4,137,126 participants.
The previous record for the largest simultaneous run was set in 2000 involving 2.3 million participants, organised by the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Among those present at the event were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, State Secretary Datuk Seri Dr Abdul Rahman Hashim and Education Director-General Datuk Abdul Ghafar Mahmud.
In his speech, Muhyiddin said the "One Student, One Sport" policy was aimed at producing holistic students and promote unity and national integration.
"This policy calls for a strong commitment among school leaderships, teachers and staff members to ensure success," he said.
The run is aimed at nurturing sporting culture among students and enhance awareness among the society on the importance of sports.
The policy makes it compulsory for students, including those with special needs who have no health problems, to take part in at least one sport proposed by the school or other types of sports endorsed by the school.
Other events held in conjunction with the launch today were aerobic exercise as well as sepak raga, futsal, netball, tennis, volleyball and wall climbing competitions.
