In situations of congested timetables, lack of manpower, and lack of facilities for all the students, it is candidate classes which should be given the priority to do physical Education.
Studies complied on line by Tailor and Francis on 22nd February 2013 revealed that physical Education has favorable effects on student’s academic achievement. Physical exercise improves young people’s health status, provides social and academic benefits. Physical Education (P.E) activities increase caloric expenditure; heart rate and coordination. Physical exercises increase the fat burning capabilities and metabolism during and after. PE improves the cardiovascular endurance which can reduce the risk of heart disease. It increases Physical flexibility. Psychosocial and cognitive benefits of PE cannot be over looked. Impacts of PE include increased self esteem, self confidence, social interaction, motivation, attention, visual enhancement and spatial skills. Exercises enhance positive mood, and help to manage stress. They increase energy and boost positive attitude towards life and work.
All these benefits caused by Physical Education promote improved reading skills and better attitude for academics, and thus better academic performance.
In June 2009, the Ministry of Education and Sports made Physical Education a compulsory subject in all secondary schools. It was not to be examined but it is the Ministry’s plan to incorporate wholesome learning experience in academic programmes. However, one will realize that in our schools, Physical Education is phased out of Candidate classes’ timetable, reason? “Why should 80 minutes of valuable time of academics be “wasted” for PE? Now these are teachers thinking this way. But in reality, if there are classes which must be taken as priority for PE in challenging situations, it is the candidate classes. This is because they need all those benefits provided by Physical exercise. They need the increased energy and better circulation which boosts the mood for reading. They need the improved self esteem and self confidence which can boost social skills and learning. They need the enhanced positive mood and better stress management skills to free them from negative and selfish attitudes. The sound sleep ushered in by regular exercise regime energizes their brains for the academic programmes.
All schools should therefore make PE a compulsory programme for candidate classes in particular but extended to all students in general. Since PE promotes better performance in all the three learning domains; cognitive, effective and psychomotor, we can’t go wrong in providing the experience for our S.4 and S.6 students. Regular exercise improves the candidate’s mood and makes them happy with increased desire to study and to succeed. As already alluded it is recommended all students should be given this opportunity to excel.
Sr. Felicity Therese Drakuru 