Boost needed for sport in schools

The recent hosting of the Games of the Small States of Europe and the number of medals won should once again spark debate about the culture of sport in Malta and whether we have the best set-up to promote it.

Without doubt, a huge amount of work was put into the organisation of the games, which were a resounding success. This was achieved thanks to the professional way they were organised, as well as the generous budget contributed by the International Olympic Committee, Malta Olympic Committee and the government. The athletes were well prepared and rose to the occasion.

It will be very important, however, for this support to be complemented at the lower end and on a much wider level in order to provide the base from which our future top athletes can emerge.

In relation to society as a whole, sport is normally classified into four main branches: physical education in schools, sport for all, competitive sport; science of sport.

Physical education is the foundation stone for the participation of our youngsters in sports, but it is still a largely neglected area. Unless this sector is properly addressed, any success in the international arena will be short lived. We need to create a culture of widespread participation in sport at all levels and in all categories.

Here is where the concept of "sport for all" comes in, and it is another branch that needs development. The idea is to encourage all citizens, young and old, beginners and veterans, the less robust and the talented, to go in for sport in their leisure time. This approach has pushed participation in sport in some developed countries to as high as 70 per cent. In Malta the figure barely reaches 40 per cent, and it includes fringe sports such as darts and snooker.

A country with a strong sport-for-all programme is much more likely to produce top class athletes. Sociologists have ascertained that the quantitative increase in sport participation is generally accompanied by qualitative changes - hence "the wider the base, the higher the peak". In Malta, the base is not at all wide and one marvels that we do occasionally manage to produce athletes of good standard.

It is true that in these past few years the parliamentary secretary (now minister) for youth and sport, Jesmond Mugliett, has done his best to improve facilities and help clubs financially. It is to his credit that new sports facilities have been built and others improved or renovated.

It is now the turn of the Education Department to pull up its socks and give sport in schools a boost by reorganising the system.

In government schools, extra-curricular activities, including sports, are organised by teachers on a voluntary basis. PE teachers are, in most cases, given a full teaching load, leaving absolutely no time for planning and organisation of activities.

The direct result of this is that the number of schools participating in competitions organised by the PE section of the education department have dwindled to a handful while mid-day break activities are slowly dying out. It is hardly an ideal environment for the creation of interest and love of sports in our schoolchildren!

Not that all is gloom and doom for PE and sport in government schools. An enormous step forward was finally taken last year when physical education, for the first time in the history of education in Malta, was offered as a subject for certification. Now students have the option to study PE for the SEC exam and obtain a certificate of their proficiency in the subject. This is a vast improvement on the old mentality that sport is a waste of precious time taken away from 'more important' academic subjects.

In October 2000, PE teachers created an association (PE Association of Malta - PEAM), with the aim of disseminating good practice in PE and enhancing the status of the subject.

The association is currently dealing with the various concerns and difficulties faced by PE teachers. These include not only lack of basic facilities such as multi-purpose halls or gymnasia even in newly constructed schools, but also the lingering mentality still prevalent among some educational authorities that PE, although professed to be a core subject, as it always has been, is not important at all.

The situation of sport in schools, at both educational and competitive levels, needs to be re-assessed and improved if we truly wish to encourage students to take up sport. The main role of PE in schools and sport for all should be that of enhancing the health of the nation by encouraging and providing opportunities for greater participation in physical activities and sports at all levels. Only then will we be able to consistently produce top-level athletes.

However, we must also work to create a culture that will understand that sport does not only mean high level performance or the winning of medals, or a spectacle to be watched, but also an activity in which everyone can join and which provides everyone with the opportunity for bodily movement and exercise; an opportunity to improve one's quality of life in all its aspects.

Ms Privitelli, B.Ed.(Hons), M.Ed (PE) is the vice president of the PE Association and teaches PE at Margaret Mortimer Girls Junior Lyceum.