Again, the role of sports in education

With classes opening next week, heightened attention is given to our educational system and the implementation of the most radical yet long-delayed innovation in elementary education: the K+12 curriculum.

The introduction of K+12 is one of the major developments in the country’s education sector, the other one, among many, the creation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). From that point on, CHED was given responsibility for collegiate and graduate education leaving primary and secondary education to the Department of Education Culture and Sports or DECS which became simply Department of Education or DepEd.

While some sectors did not find the creation of the CHED necessary, we are one of those who fully agree with the dichotomy for the simple reason that the two offices have different clients and constituents and needs.  One can just imagine the burden on one organization of implementing the K+12 and other equally important initiatives in collegiate and graduate education.

Those of us who are keen observers of school sports view the introduction of K+12 with interest as we observe how it will impact physical education (PE), it being the foundation of all sports and wellness activities in school.

The place of PE in K+12 was hotly debated when the K+12 law was being discussed with PE teachers, scholars and the few practitioners weighing in with their valuable comments and insights. Best practice from all over the world was surfaced as reference points of what other countries are trying to do to ensure that PE becomes imbedded in school curricula and people create a lifelong commitment to physical activity and wellness.

One of the valuable materials that could have been used (if it did not find its way into the debate then) is an article in BBC News UK Politics that quoted London Mayor Boris Johnson urging two hours of PE a day. It will be recalled that London hosted the 2012 Summer Olympics. Just like all hosts of an undertaking of such a magnitude, authorities wanted to ensure that the event would leave a legacy and the positive benefits from hosting the games be institutionalized to justify the millions of British pounds spent on the event.

Johnson said that school children should be made to do two hours of sport a day as part of the Olympic legacy. It was clear that the Mayor wanted to build on the public’s renewed appetite for sports, adding that it would  be “wonderful for kids across the country”, according to the BBC News.

Johnson emphasized “(the British) government totally understands people’s appetite for this. They can see the benefits of sport and what it does for young people.”

Johnson said that “They understand very, very clearly the social and economic advantages. I would like to see, frankly, the kind of regime I used to enjoy – compulsory two hours’ sports every day. I’ve no doubt that is the sort of thing that would be wonderful for kids across the country. It is of profound importance for the happiness and success of this country that we have more sport in schools.”

Other credible and authoritative personalities have also voiced their agreement. In the same report, BBC News said that Dane Tess Jowell, Culture Secretary at the time London won the Olympic bid, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program she wanted a “very clear agreement that a chunk of time every week would be set aside for children to play sports. She also urged all parties to sign up to a 10-year school sports plan.”

Jewell reminded British society that it had a commitment to fulfill in exchange for London being entrusted with the huge responsibility of hosting the 2012 Games, “We promised in Singapore, when we won the bid, that we would inspire a generation and that would be creating sport as part of every child’s life; life changing and something we’d never done before in that concerted way.“

Jewell stated that one of the reasons the Olympics have been so successful is that in their planning and execution, all parties have worked together in the national interest and built a national consensus about how to deliver the Olympics. She added,  “that sense of unity of purpose should be applied to delivering this legacy.”

 The United Kingdom and the Philippines are no exceptions when it comes to the budget for sport being one of the many victims of the pruning knife. The BBC News reported that in 2010, the government faced criticism from teachers and athletes when it cut funding for the School Sports Partnership program.

Certainly, a lot more debate will ensue on the role of sport in the primary curriculum given limited resources and the urgency of adding more emphasis to subjects like science, mathematics and English, if we want to be globally competitive. Let that debate continue with practical experience people taking part.