Tuesday, January 26, 2010

The SNP manifesto promised children 2 hours of fitness exercise it is time to look beyond the traditional failed approach













Dear All

Sport for children is a target missed every year for the last six years by successive administrations at Holyrood.

The SNP Ministers find themselves under fire for missing another educational target and manifesto commitment.

Is there a simple solution to the problem?

Yes, hire in fitness instructors who do nothing but teach fitness.

In the after school community, kids gets fitness training in the voluntary and private sector such as judo, boxing and karate clubs as well as other organisations.

And it is cost effective.

So why not look beyond the traditional teacher ethos?

The SNP manifesto stated;

“To help Scottish children develop the habit of physical fitness, we will ensure that every pupil has two hours of quality PE each week delivered by specialist PE teachers.”

Sounds good but the reality is far from achieved, only a third of all schoolchildren meet the two hours’ target with thousands of pupils getting next to no proper exercise at all.

So, at present there is a blame game between government and council along the lines of ‘it’s your fault’.

It is ridiculous that some schools have no indoor sports facilities at all, no gym hall or any sort of area where children can exercise in the winter.

So, why not take them to the local sports centre, big halls and qualified instructors?

This helps meet the Scottish Government target and provides revenue to the local centres for use of facilities and personnel.

But the Scottish Government must go further for children and look to the work done by the Australians who operate an interesting scheme to encourage children into sport.
Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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