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Academic performance can improve through sports,physical activities
2007-10-17 09:36:26
By Emmanuel Kihaule
For quite sometime participating in sports has been assoicated with the jobless.It is most often said that it is a time wasting activity only fit for failures in life.
However, this is a gross misconception as indulgence in sports activities is highly benefical to one`s health as well as in the area of conflict resolution and improved performance by students in schools.
The Country Manager of an international NGO, Right to Play, Mary Musirika, says that embracement of sports in the country could tremendously improve performance in schools and also attract school drop-outs to continue with their studies.
``Children demonstrate better concentration and listening skills at school and in the home, when participating in spot and play activities,`` she says.
Musirika alludes to the fact that children have always said that they lead happier lives as a result of being actively invoved in sport activities while those with disabilities attend school when sport and play activities are present.
Female students who numerically have high school drop-out figures, are now empowered by sport and play programs focusing on their needs and education opportunities.
``Sport and play programs also teach important conflict resolution skills including team work, fair play, and communication, leading to reduced violent behavior among children,`` the Right to Play boss says.
In addition to the above, she says, children who participate in sport and play develop an interest in their own well being and the confidence to act on health reasons.
Besides the above benefits to children, sports are also beneficial to the coaches as they learn not only to organize such activities but also vital life and professional skills such as leadership, teaching and project management.
Trust and respect of the coaching relationship also provides an opportunity to teach important health messages such as HIV/Aids and sexual reproductive health, she says.
Studies elsewhere have also proved that sports and other physical activities have a great impact in the general health of the participants and besides, improve their academic performance.
For instance, one study that was conducted in August last year in the US State of Michigan, found that middle school students who engaged in more vigorous physical activity than their sedentary counterparts did better in school.
The research was jointly conducted by researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) and Grand Valley State University (GVSU).
The report further elaborates the fact that students who took part in more vigorous physical activities such as organized sports like soccer or football, or non-organized after - school activities such as skateboarding did approximately 10 percent better in core classes such as math, science, English and social studies.
It was published in the August issue of Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.
For one academic year, the study tracked more than 200 students in the sixth grade. For one semester half of the students took the general physical education class offered by the school, while the other half took part in a non-physical education course. Halfway through the school year they switched.
``We have precious few studies that link activity or fitness to measurable academic outcomes,`` says Jim Pivarnik, an MSU professor with appointments in kinesiology, epidemiology, and physical medicine and rehabilitation who is one of the study’s report co-authors .
``Considering all the factors that go into what determines students’ grades in school, a ten percent increase by the most physically active kids is huge.``
It has long been speculated that fitness and improved academic performance go hand in hand, says Dawn Podulka Coe, the study`s lead author who was an MSU doctoral student when she led the project.
``Physical education and activity during the school day reduce boredom and help keep kids’ attention in the classroom.
The students who performed better academically in this study were the most active, meaning those who participated in a sport or other vigorous activity at least three times a week`` says Coe.
It is in this light that sports and physical education have been recognised even by the United Nations whereby the former Secretary General, Kofi Annan, declared 2005 as the International Year of Sport and Physical Education.
Annan said that there was nothing more universal than sports and that through sports, the world could solve a number of problems that it now faces such as conflicts, poor health, and discrimination, among many others.
``The international year of sport and physical education is a reminder to governments, international organisations and community groups everywhere to draw on the promise of sport to promote human rights, development and peace,`` he told the UN General Assembly.
It is from this backdrop, Right to Play in Tanzania wants to popularize sport and play in schools so as to be realise all the benefits derived from these activities.
Right to Play is an athlete-driven international organization that uses sport and play as a tool for development of children and youth in the most affected areas of the world and so far it has several projects in the country.
It uses internal and external communication to achieve its objectives which include basic education and child development, health promotion and disease prevention, conflict resolution and peace education, among others.
For instance, at the moment one of the NGO’s programs in Dar es Salaam supports the government’s goal of education development by working with the Ministry of Education to conduct teacher training and enhance physical education curriculum in schools.
Besides, the NGO has projects in Kigoma and Serengeti all of which are aimed at helping disadvantaged kids, including those in refugee camps, heal from trauma that resulted from wars, discrimination, brutality and loss of parents.
The organization, together with relevant stakeholders, also aims at establishing community-based initiatives such as volunteer trainer trainings, mentorship of youth and implementation of regular activities for children and youth living in and around Dar es Salaam.
In its endeavors to realize the above, Right to Play partners with renowned athletes and sportsmen and women play the role of as ambassadors in its global commitment to improve the lives of these children and strengthen their communities by translating the best practices of sport and play into opportunities to promote development, health and peace.
``At the moment we`re trying to convince the government to reintroduce sports and physical activities in the curriculum so as to make sure that pupils joyously learn while remaining physically fit,`` Musirika says.
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