FAQs

In view of the COVID-19 situation, the Sports for Life (SFL) Fitness Assessment (Walk or Run Test) has been suspended since April 2020 and will remain so till the end of the year.

MESRC will be organizing the Sports for Life Million Steps Challenge from 1 November 2020 to 8 February 2021 (100-day) duration as a replacement for the usual SFL Programme and leverage on the Pacer App to motivate staff to increase their physical activity on an individual basis.

The SFL is complemented by the MOE Healthy Lifestyle Incentive Award (HLIA) Scheme.

1. Staff should consult their doctor before participating in the Steps Challenge if they have any existing medical conditions.

2. Registration is free and is limited to 5,000 participants only. Registration are subject to availability via MESRC FormSG between 2nd October 2020 to 23rd October 2020 and accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.

3. Participants will need to input the following information in the MESRC FormSG:

4 After participants have completed the online registration via FormSG, MESRC would send an email to successfully registered participants to download a Step Tracker (Pacer) from their mobile phone and to join ‘Sports for Life Million Steps Challenge (SFL MSC)’ platform via invitation link or QR code to complete the registration process for this Step Challenge. The Pacer App is available for free download on Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

1. All staff employed by the Ministry of Education (MOE) can participate in this Steps Challenge except staff from Independent or Specialised Schools, MESRC Associate and Corporate members.

2. MOE seconded staff in independent schools or specialised schools (i.e. Northlight, Pathlight, Spectra, ACS (I), etc.) are also eligible to participate in this event if their payroll is from MOE.

3. Staff from NIE regardless of full fledge student or attached to school or division are not eligible to participate and for this award.

The Sports for Life Million Steps Challenge will officially kick off from 1 November 2020 to 8 February 2021 (100-day) duration.

No. Both Steps Challenge are different. Participants who have signed up and/or finished the previous ‘MOE Pacer Steps Challenge 2020’ will need to join the new ‘Sports for Life Million Steps Challenge (SFL MSC) 2020’ via the Pacer App.

Please note that the steps from the previous ‘MOE Pacer Steps Challenge 2020’ will not be counted or continued for the new ‘Sports for Life Million Steps Challenge (SFL MSC) 2020’

No, this is MOE’s own Steps Challenge not the ‘National Steps Challenge (NSC)’.

No event T-shirts will be issued to participants.

The collection of Full name and NRIC numbers were necessary to establish and verify staff identity to a high degree of accuracy for payment of the incentives award to staff via salary through VITAL.

No, we will not be able to establish and verify staff identity with nickname and partial NRIC numbers. VITAL requires the full name and NRIC numbers of staff to ensure that the payment is made correctly into staff salaries.

Yes, it also applies to staff with foreign identification numbers and work permit as the information is necessary to establish and verify staff identity.

We will ensure appropriate level of security to protect the data (e.g. NRIC numbers) collected from the officers. Below are some examples:

1. After the registration period is over, we will cease the retention of personal data through proper disposal.

2. When sharing we will ensure that all the documents are password-protected.

3. The password to the documents will be shared securely via separate channel (i.e. Skype, etc).

To qualify for the incentives award, staff should achieve the following number of steps over the 100-day duration (1 November 2020 to 8 February 2021):

1 million steps: $70.00 award

700,000 steps: $50.00 award

500,000 steps: $30.00 award

Participants must achieve a minimum of 500,000 Total Steps over the 100-day qualifying period to be eligible for the incentive rewards, details as indicated below.

No, Ordinary Sick Leave (OSL) is not a requirement for staff to qualify for the incentives award.

All eligible recipients of Sports for Life Million Steps Challenge 2020 will be notified via email for successful completion of this Steps Challenge.

Similar to the MOE Healthy Lifestyle Incentive Award Scheme disbursement, MESRC will submit the eligible recipients’ data to AST for payment processing via VITAL for awards pay-outs within FY2020 (i.e. March 2021 payment).

Staff who qualify for this incentives award will be receiving the monetary incentive (credited into their salary) by April 2021.

Staff who had retired or left the service before 8 February 2021 will not be eligible to receive this incentives award.

Staff who have retired or left the service after 8 February 2021, will receive the monetary award through the bank account that was last used to credit their salary.

No, they will not be eligible for the incentives award.

Yes, staff on maternity leave or hospitalisation leave are still under paid employment of MOE hence they will still be eligible for the incentives award if they meet the steps criteria within the 100-day qualifying period.

For any queries regarding this event, please contact Mr Ahmad Shah at 6460 9863 or email to

[email protected]