The Ministry of Education has devised a way to improve children’s physical fitness

The document, which the Ministry of Education and Culture informs about on its website, is to be discussed by the government on Wednesday.

“The health status of the child population suffered greatly during the covid era,” the minister declared. According to him, the Czech Republic has continued to struggle with the problem since the pandemic.

According to Bek, the office therefore prepared a comprehensive concept for the next years. Specific measures can be implemented by schools immediately. The plan to support the movement of children, pupils and students in schools for the period 2024 to 2028 is based on the recommendations of the Czech School Inspectorate (ČŠI).

Thousands of children are unnecessarily deprived of physical education

Science and schools

“The most important premise is that children spend an awful lot of time in schools,” said Ondřej Andrys, the state secretary of the ministry. Schools must therefore lead children from families who neglect exercise to a healthy lifestyle.

Include modern sports in physical education lessons

It follows from the ČŠI material that teachers and schools should try to make physical education classes more attractive for children – for example, include new and modern sports or improve spatial and material conditions for sports.

Schools should also motivate pupils who often excuse themselves from PE lessons. For example, schools should include health physical education in their lessons and also use available lessons to increase the number of physical education lessons.

According to the ministry, suitable and safe routes to and from school and the construction of cycle paths can help children move more throughout the day.

School inspection: The success rate of high school graduates has increased slightly, the problem with superstructure students persists

Science and schools

Schools can then ensure that children actively use breaks. Common areas and corridors should be equipped with safe aids such as games, soft balls or figures on the floor.

In the afternoon, groups should mainly ensure that the children are sufficiently active. Pupils should have a better choice of clubs, for older pupils schools should also include activities common to adults, for example fitness. Teachers could also include movement in lessons other than physical education.

According to Andrys, the concept is made up of simple, small steps that schools can take now. According to him, school facilities only need to be motivated and shown positive examples.

Last year’s survey was not very optimistic

The Czech School Inspectorate, together with other institutions, conducted physical fitness testing at schools last year.

For young people in their second year of secondary school, their results in physical activities showed that 15 percent of today’s young people around 17 years old are insufficiently physically fit. Children in elementary schools fared a little better.

The Health 2020 and Sport 2025 concepts adopted by the government focus on increasing physical activity. According to an earlier statement by the chairman of the Czech Sports Union, Miroslav Jansta, the government does not fulfill their conclusions. According to him, the Czech Republic lags behind other European countries when it comes to providing education for sports and taking care of physical literacy of the population.