Audrey Callus, Marsascala
Not enough physical education
School has just started and new timetables are being communicated to the students.
These past few months we have been bombarded from all relevant quarters with how important healthy eating and exercise is for our children so as to prevent obesity.
With this in mind I thought and expected that a new focus would be given to sports lessons and activities in schools and, therefore, you can imagine my surprise when my 14-year-old son, who attends a Junior Lyceum, came back with a timetable that listed only one 40-minute lesson of physical education a week as opposed to the two lessons he had last year.
Is this the way our children are going to be encouraged to increase their physical activity and, therefore, fight obesity?
It is to be noted that the authorities found time for two lessons of religion per week but not for more lessons of PE.
Popular Stories
In Discussion
7 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
WJ Gatt
Sep 27th 2008, 18:29
An even worse occurance, Ms. Callus, is when children get a note from their parents not to participate in PE lessons because of a 'sore throat'.
No wonder we see many flubber impersonating children at our beaches.
TRW O'Neill
Sep 27th 2008, 16:26
Of course there will be more need to teach about religion, you are a captive audiance , the Catholic church is losing worshippers all over the world, it is obvious with all the scandals. going on.
Roberta Briffa
Sep 27th 2008, 15:02
It is interesting how Ms. Callus dismissed Religious Education as a subject. It seems as if it's ok to have subjects such as Maths, English and so on, but not Religion.
Joseph Micallef
Sep 27th 2008, 12:46
@Franco Farrugia,
Don't you see you are contradicting yourself. They students have had one lesson PE reduced so that an extra lesson of Religion is introduced. Now all know that what is taught is not really religion but religious knowledge - only suitable to pass exams with and nothing much more. Religion is about faith. Faith is not transmitted through religious knowledge lessons aimed at passing exams. And so a worthy PE lesson has been sacrificed to a quite useless Religion lesson. You keep saying that students should get PE as much as possible. May I ask when? At what time? In which slot in the time-table? What will give way to PE? English and Maths maybe? I don't think so!
Audrey Callus
Sep 27th 2008, 12:36
to Franco Farrugia
My point is that our children have already been bombarded enough with religious education at the primary level and during the obligatory museum lessons. Furthermore I do not think that it is up to you to decide or 'wonder' if I am giving a good example to my son or not because everyone has own morals and beliefs which do not necessarily taly with the mainstream ones. I believe I am doing this by not letting him repeat my mistakes and give due importance to physical activity so as to have a healthy lifestyle both now and in the future when, most probably, he will have a sedentary job.
Franco de Gabriele
Sep 27th 2008, 11:14
It is a shame that sports activities and physical education is taking a back seat in our educational programmes. The experience of Ms Callus is similar to most schools. Although we want and talk at length about the importance of sports education the reality is very different. We definitely need a more balanced programme where sports and sports education is given more prominence and it should start with parents demanding more activities in their respective schools.We need to put pressure to ensure children are given the opportunity to exercise, for children to feel they belong to their school sports teams, for children to learn to compete and for children to attach to their school's sports education programmes as a way of life, disciplined, healthy and competitive. What next however?
Franco Farrugia
Sep 27th 2008, 11:13
Two 'wrongs' do not make one right, Ms Callus.
Where is the harm in having 2, instead of 1, religion lessons per week? Have you, as a parent, looked up the syllabus of this 'subject' to see for yourself the contents of such lessons???? What example are you setting for your son, when you write such a letter as this? I wonder. I really wonder.
Of course there should be more physical education lessons! There should me as many as possible. However, one has to understand the constraints of the heavy load of subject-lessons in Forms 4 and 5. But this does not alter the fact that there should be MORE physical education at school.