The Ministry of Health (“MOH”) issued an additional advisory “Tighter Measures To Minimise Further Spread of COVID-19” on 24 Mar 2020. In view of the evolving COVID-19 situation, Sport Singapore (SportSG) has also provided operational guidance on physical distancing measures on 25 Mar 2020 with further clarifications on 26 Mar 2020. With effect from 27 March 2020, the People’s Associaition (PA) had also suspend all courses, organised activities and interest group activities at Community Clubs/Centres (CC), Residents’ Committee (RC) Centres and other PA facilities, till 30 April 2020. The measures implemented are for the safety of the Taekwondo community and the Singapore Taekwondo Federation (STF) will remind all affiliates, coaches and students to adhere strictly to the measures.

As the national sports association of Taekwondo, STF is committed to supporting the affiliates, coaches and students during these challenging times. STF will thus make the following adjustments to the 176th Centralised Grading so that our members can continue to pursue their sporting aspirations while not compromising their safety.

• As per the previous announcement on the 176th Centralised Grading, Affiliates are allowed to conduct internal assessments for their students based the guidelines as previously stated (http://www.stf.sg/grading/2159-176th-centralised-grading).

• These assessments can now be done ONLINE but only if 
  o The affiliate have already registered their centralised or supplementary grading with STF.
  o the registered supplementary grading is before 30 April 2020.
  o No date change is allowed for registered supplementary gradings which is after 30 April 2020.

• Only senior instructors (holders of STF 4th dan and higher) can assess their students who are going for up till RED BELT (2nd geup) going to BLACKTIP (1st geup). Instructors can decide on how these online assessments are performed.
  
  o  Instructors can arrange a “live” streaming using availabletechnology*.
  o  Students can submit pre-recorded videos of their performance.

• All Red 1 (1st geup) and higher (up till 2nd dan going to 3rd dan) will be graded by STF-appointed examiners during the centralised grading or the affiliate-organised supplementary gradings. These gradings will also be ONLINE. This grading for SENIOR RED 1 and above (up till 2nd dan going to 3rd dan) will be organised on the original date of 18 April 2020 and more details released shortly. The grading for 3rd dan going to 4th dan and higher will be put on hold.

• The submission for Senior Red 1 and above will be extended to 6th April 2020.

• All affiliates are reminded that they are NOT ALLOWED to assess students going for 1st dan/poom and higher. For 1st Poom and Higher, instructors are to arranged for pre-recorded videos of the students’ performance to be sent to STF Office. The student can only be awarded the belt after STF’s official approval.

• During submission, the affiliate will have to indicate with the Secretariat, the senior instructors (holders of STF 4th dan and higher) who is going to grade the students. Affiliates who do not have senior instructors (holders of STF 4th dan and higher) will submit the instructor with the highest Dan. The management committee will grant approval on a case-by-case basis.

• For all students, their grades will only be recognized by STF if their grading cards are submitted within two weeks of the scheduled supplementary grading. All grading cards must have the instructor’s own signature and a STF-authorized examiner’s signature.

• For all students, if the instructor feels that the student is deserving of a double promotion, they are to video the students’ performance and send the video to STF within two weeks of the schedule supplementary grading. The student can only be awarded the double-promotion after STF’s official approval.

• To adequately prepare their students for the online gradings, instructors are encouraged to train the students but within the measures required by MOH, SportSG and PA. For children and youth, instructors are encouraged to conduct trainings online with available technlogy*. Instructors have a right to postpone at student’s assessments if the instructor deemed that a student is not adequately prepared.

• As the assessments and gradings will be performed online, the following adjustments will be made to the grading criteria.
  o the sparring component will be modified to shadow sparring.
  o For poom belts, self-defence component will exempted, poom beltsmay be required to attend an unarmed combat course of the appropriate level when Covid-19 measures relaxed.
  
  We hope that these adjustments will motivate our coaches and students tocontinue training. Please contact STF if you have any queries.

• Available Technology. Instructors may pre-record videos for the students or may also use “live” streaming technology that may include but not limited to Whatsapp video calls, Skype video calls, FaceTime, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Google Hangouts. Arrangements, whether for training or grading, should be mutually agreed and Instructors should try not to let the students incur additional costs due to a need to purchase technology.

SUMMORY

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

1. Submission for the Grading can only be at the STF office during office hours.
2. Please ensure that ALL grading cards are properly completed and duly endorsed. A recent photograph of the candidate must be attached.
3. For ALL candidates who are going for Red 1 & above, please have the following documents during submission:

• Candidate’s grading card
• 1 photocopy of the candidate’s Identity Card (front & back) / Birth Certificate (for candidate below age of 12)
• 2 recent IC / passport photographs of the candidate
• Form B (duly completed)

***Submission will not be accepted if any of the documents is not available or, for Form B, partially completed.

4. Submission will not be accepted if candidate fails to produce any of the documents mentioned above.
5. The last day of submission is on 26 Mar 2020 (THURSDAY). Any submission after this date will be considered as LATE SUBMISSION.
6. Late submissions for candidates taking Red 1 & above are to be done within two (2) weeks from  27 Mar 2020 (FRIDAY). Submission beyond the grace period of two (2) weeks WILL NOT be accepted. An administrative fee will be charged accordingly for late submission. The charges are as follows:

7. As the Covid 2019 situation continues to develop both locally and internationally during this grading period, the procedure of the centralised grading will be as follows.

1. Affiliates are allowed to conduct internal assessments for their students based on the following guidelines.
2. The affiliate must already have registered their centralised or supplementary grading with STF.
3. Senior instructors (holders of STF 4th dan and higher) can assess their students who are going for up till RED BELT (2nd geup) going to BLACK-TIP (1st geup).
4. All BLACK-TIP (1st geup) and higher will be graded by STF-appointed examiners during the centralised grading or the affiliate-organised supplementary gradings. All affiliates are reminded that they are NOT ALLOWED to assess students going for 1st dan/poom and higher.
5. For the affiliates conducting supplementary gradings,
   1. The affiliate is advised not to conduct large-scale assessment to reduce risk of transmission.
   2. Assessment should be conducted in small groups with staggered timings or during their normal class timing to minimise exposure of students to large crowds. For those who choose to proceed, they should take all necessary precautions. These include:
      1. Carry out temperature screening;
      2. Look out for respiratory symptoms such as cough or runny nose, and deny entry to unwell individuals;
      3. Remind students not to attend if the participants have recent travel history to mainland China, South Korea, Iran, Northern Italy (or any other countries stated within MOH guidelines during the actual supplementary grading) and require travel declaration, if possible;
      4. Ensure that event venues are ventilated and are adequately equipped with facilities for handwashing; and
      5. Increase the frequency of cleaning commonly used areas; and
      6. Maintain a registration list of participants, if practical.
6. During submission, the affiliate will have to indicate with the Secretariat, the senior instructors (holders of STF 4th dan and higher) who is going to grade the students. Affiliates who do not have senior instructors (holders of STF 4th dan and higher) will submit the instructor with the highest Dan. The management committee will grant approval on a case-by-case basis.
7. For all students, their grades will only be recognized by STF if their grading cards are submitted within two weeks of the scheduled supplementary grading. All grading cards must have the instructor’s own signature and a STF-authorized examiner’s signature.
8. For all students, if the instructor feels that the student is deserving of a double promotion, they are to video the students’ performance and send the video to STF within two weeks of the schedule supplementary grading. The student can only be awarded the double-promotion after STF’s official approval.

8. An administrative fee of SGD 5.00 will be charged for late submission of candidates taking all other grades except Brown 1 & above.
9. A roll call will be taken at 1.30pm for Red 1 (Senior) candidates going for 1^st dan and 2.30pm for 1st dan and higher candidates. Those who miss the roll call will be considered as ABSENT or LATECOMERS. Latecomers will not be graded.
10. Candidates are to turn up in proper dress code (as stipulated by the STF) for the grading. Candidates who fail to comply with the dress code will not be allowed to take the grading.
11. Supplementary Grading can only be conducted four (4) weeks before or after the Centralised Grading and will be subjected to the approval of the Grading Department.
12. Candidates will be taking the grading at their own risk and therefore will not hold the Federation, the Grading Department or anyone so concerned, responsible for any injuries, accidents or mishaps that may befall on them during the course of the grading.
13. For any enquiries, please contact the STF Secretariat Office or the Grading Department.