PE slowly making its way back into curriculum

AN INCREASING number of the province’s schools are choosing to reintroduce physical education as a subject to their pupils and plans are in motion to get schools – that don’t officer physical activities – on the move.

Jessica Shelver, the spokeswoman for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the subject of physical education “was stopped” in the 1990’s as a result of teacher rationalisation.

Since 2012 it was brought back into the curriculum but not as a stand-alone subject. It instead makes up a component of life orientation.

Pupils are required to spend two hours a week on physical education in Grades 1 to 9 and one hour per week in Grades 10 to 12, but Shelver said there were, however, Western Cape schools that were not offering physical education.

These included schools that didn’t have the necessary equipment or facilities.

She said the Western Cape Education Department had been incrementally introducing physical education as a subject since last year and many schools had already introduced it and employed teachers for this purpose.

In cases where schools didn’t have facilities, the sharing of facilities with other schools was being encouraged.

The department has also trained 14000 teachers on how to introduce physical education as part of the revised curriculum for life orientation.

Shelver said the department was encouraging school enrichment activities at schools, including extramural sports and cultural programmes.

The department has school enrichment co-ordinators in all education districts to work with schools, partners and donors to promote activities.

“Research internationally and in South Africa has shown that school enrichment activities help to improve learner behaviour and academic results.”

She said 160 schools had been provided with basic equipment to start intra-school sport activities.

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport also organised sport and recreational activities at 181 mass participation, opportunity and access development and growth (MOD) centres across the province.

The MOD centres provide these activities after school hours at selected schools for more than 40 000 registered participants from disadvantaged communities.

Sport and cultural activities for pupils were also included in holiday programmes.

The Department of Basic Education has also indicated that a number of activities were being planned this year to encourage physical activity among the youth.