Co-curriculum or extramural activities are activities carried out in the school but are not part of the group

of subjects studied. They can be carried out in the form of academic societies and clubs such as the English Language Society, the Bahasa Malaysia Society, the Mathematics Society, the Science Society, the Geographical Society, the Historical Society or the Art Club. They can also be carried out in the form of non-academic society and clubs such as the Electronics Club, the InventorsClub, the Teens, the Junior Jaycees, the Interact Club and the Gardening Club. They can also be carried out in the form of uniformed organizations such as the Boy Scouts, the Girl Guides, the St.JohnS Ambulance Brigade, the Red Crescent Society and the Police Cadets. Co-curriculum can also include the various sports activities and games. Co-curriculum has been introduced in schools for a variety of reasons. The first is it provides a welcome change from studying in the classroom. It is a safety valve for the release of tension of academic work. In simple words it means involvement in cocurriculum gives students a chance to relax. As the well-known saying goes, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Co-curriculum also allows students to learn things which he does not normally learn in class. For example, if he is a scout, he learns how to live outdoors, how to cook, how to survive in the jungle, how to be of service to others, how to lead and how to work as a team. If he is a member of Red Crescent Society, he learns how to take care of injured people besides how to be a leader and how to work with others. Co-curriculum also allows a student to hone or develop any special skill or talent he may already possess. For example, he may have artistic talent. Joining the Art Club will help him to develop that talent and one day he may become a world-famous artist. Another student

may have talent inventive skills. Joining the Inventors Club may become a may draw out the inventive genius within him and turn him into a great inventor in future. Another area in which co-curriculum can help is the development of social skills. The education system has failed if it can only develop bookworms who are socially inept. Such people may be very successful in their studies but are dismal failures in their social lives. They become very unhappy because they do not know how to get along with others. Co-curriculum has been introduced in school to cater for the all-round development of an individual, one who is successful in his studied and as well as in his relationship with others. All the foregoing explanation show how important co-curriculum really is.

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