Physical education may be renamed 'movement instruction' from new year
The curriculum for physical education in schools will change from the new academic year starting in September. The subject may be called movement instruction instead, and a class where a grade is obtained based on the speed of the running, the distance of a jump or its height will soon be a thing of the past.
The Ministry of Education wants to start a new physical education curriculum from the new academic year in order to make learning more comprehensive, and thus encourage students to lead a more active lifestyle, Pille Liblik, General Education Adviser at the Ministry of Education and Research said.
"Our plan is that the changes in the curriculum could take effect already this year. This means that schools will be able to teach physical education according to the new principles of physical education already next school year," Liblik told ERR.
Not all schools have to start in the autumn, they are given a year if necessary.
Liblik promises a completely new approach to the current curriculum: "The current curriculum was more focused on performance based on a certain nine sports."
While physical education has so far focused almost exclusively on sports, physical education should be broader than that, the experts say.
Maret Pihu, the leader of the working group that created the curriculum. "Whereas there was no such option in the previous syllabus to teach cycling, now this is a separate field of exercise. It is a type of exercise that can be used and used by everyone on a daily basis. It is very beneficial to have this basic education at school."
Students' speed or strength are no longer assessed, but whether the student has acquired a new skill. For example, according to the new curriculum, people are taught to use a racket and thus play racket-ball games.
"Later, the endpoint is that they can already play the game according to the rules. If they have already reached that point, it is actually an extremely positive result, which can be recognized with a positive score," Pihu said.
Pihu also stated that the subject should be given a new name - movement instruction. "The content of this subject will change to a very large extent. It will become a lifestyle subject that supports movement in its free time," she said.
However, changing the name of the curriculum is uncertain. If a government regulation is required to change the syllabus, it is necessary to change the law, to change a subject's name.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
