It is firmly believed that regular physical activity and sport are essential for a healthier and better lifestyle. To this end, physical education is essential and this is confirmed by international organisations such as the UN in its definition of PE and the Council of Europe’s reference to sport in its Sport Charter. Furthermore, the reference to sport in the EU’s Lisbon Treaty cannot be ignored.
It is firmly believed that sport helps our youngsters build a strong character, cultivates a society that is physically and mentally healthy and makes a significant contribution to the island’s economy. It is because of the belief in these principles that we seek to instil a sport culture. Of course, such a culture requires the provision of well-planned sport promotion and expertise in the field of training and coaching, backed by adequate sports facilities.
Tackling the problem at its root
The challenge of instilling a sport culture in the lifestyle of our population is best tackled at its roots. Nevertheless, trying to catch them young is more challenging than is generally believed. To begin with, today sport is in stiff competition with digital games which, albeit attractive, promote a sedentary live. So to attract wider participation, irrespective of ability or talent, the fun element becomes a primary factor.
Schools are an obviously important catchment area and fortunately, thanks to the government’s policy of building a new school every year, we are seeing the availability of a quantity of quality school sports facilities. The state colleges of St Margaret’s, St Benedict’s, St Ignatius and Maria Regina are ample proof of this. The availability of an adequate supply of qualified PE teachers has been challenging, but is to a certain degree under control, even if there is plenty of room for improvement.
The eleven-plus examination has also had a somewhat detrimental effect on physical activity. For quite a while, the exam gave many parents the impression that PE and sport were merely leisure activities that tended to lead their sons and daughters nowhere, rather than important ways of encouraging a healthy lifestyle. Indeed, sport has often been seen as a threat to academic achievement, although academic studies on the subject seem to prove otherwise. Parent encouragement is, of course, fundamental and fortunately today’s generation of young parents seems more sport and fitness-oriented than their predecessors. Better education, more health awareness, more availability of sporting facilities and sports programmes, together with worrying obesity statistics, must have had an impact. It is estimated that football nurseries alone take some 9,000 youngsters, while the nurseries of various other sporting disciplines take a few more thousand.
Sport in schools is faced with another major challenge, which is the short school hours, but this should not be used as an excuse to minimise the provision of physical activity during school hours – even if it is necessary to use after school hours as well in order to reach the recommended amount of daily physical activity for children.
KMS: Sport Promotion Unit & Skola Sport
Last week, the Malta Sports Council (KMS) launched its popular winter programme, Skola Sport. Year in, year out, this programme has been held exclusively at the Marsa Sports Grounds, but it has now been decided to also run the programme from various other sports complexes, mainly Cottonera, Kirkop, Qormi and Mosta. This is being considered as the first wave of decentralisation of the KMS sports programmes, following the various pilot projects that have been run over the last few years. The idea is to get these programmes nearer to the people, particularly the children they seek to attract, as the above-mentioned complexes are all part of or adjacent to state schools.
Launched a couple of years ago, the KMS Sport Promotion Unit (SPU) is growing considerably. The SPU, now consisting of 14 teachers and 20 coaches in various sporting disciplines, aims to promote, teach and increase sporting activity before, during and after school hours, thus reaching out to the 28,000 students in compulsory education.
In addition to a wide range of sports festivals in various disciplines, ranging from football, basketball and rugby to dance and outdoor adventure programmes, the SPU has introduced a Fundamental Basic Sport Skills programme that is offered to all state-schools pupils in years three, four and five, during school hours. The programme, which is in addition to the compulsory PE lessons, offers fundamental skills in the basic disciplines of athletics, gymnastics and swimming.
It cannot be denied that these programmes, intended to promote sport as a way of life, require substantial investment to keep them going, but the health problems of an inactive society could ultimately prove even more costly. So let’s keep up our efforts to catch them young.
Clyde Puli is the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sport