“The Scout’s popularity has waned and there are many uniformed units for students to choose from nowadays.
“Police and army cadets, which are supported by the Government, have an advan- tage over the Scout movement — they are part of the school co-curriculum,” he added recently.
Rafie said the Scouts movement, which was introduced in Malaysia in 1908, was being run by volunteers and steps were being taken to promote the movement to schools.
Recently, 60 Scouts made up of 27 boys and 33 girls from all over Kelantan attended an expedition where they canoed 50km from Sungai Kelantan to Pulau Melaka.
Kelantan Education Director Ghazali Abdul Rahman, who flagged off the expedition, said it was the first time that such an event was organised by the Kelantan Scouts.
“We hope that the students will gain the self-confidence required to accept challenges of the future,” he said.
One of the participants, Muhamad Hakim, 17, said he was thrilled with the expedition, adding that he felt good after finishing the ti-ring journey.
“If I had the chance, I would love to do it all over again,” he added.
Salimah Ahmad, 17, from Tumpat, said she nearly gave up half way but she had lots of encouragement from her peers who encou-raged her to finish the gruelling trip.