Boost Education with Sports: Incorporate Athletics into the School Curriculum
Here’s what you should be aware of:
- Ensure that the new curriculum includes career pathways in sports...”
Physical education, which includes sports activities, is an extracurricular component of the curriculum at the elementary school level. This subject is non-examinable, and instructors often lack practical experience in recognizing and nurturing talents or engaging directly with sports themselves.
At the secondary education stage, specifically during the O-level period covering Senior 1 through Senior 4, sports become part of the integrated curriculum within Physical Education. This typically includes sessions for both physical activity and theory, and is assessed by Unaeb exams. Teachers responsible for these subjects generally have academic backgrounds in sports science. Although they possess strong knowledge about the theories related to athletics, many may not have extensive hands-on experience across different sporting disciplines.
As a result, students are mainly equipped with theoretical knowledge, leaving out the practical aspects of sports that are essential for talent identification, development, and career growth. Moreover, many schools lack adequate equipment and sports facilities for practical sessions. Although the Ministry of Education and Sports plans to incorporate Physical Education into the A' level curriculum, students who studied PE at O' level cannot continue it at A' level due to the absence of a formal PE curriculum.
Further due to a limited number of sports courses at the university level, athletes often enroll in unrelated professional courses and are expected to balance academics with intensive athletic training. This leads to conflicts between study schedules and competition timetables, forcing many athletes to abandon one career or struggle to excel in both. Even after graduation, athletes face challenges in maintaining both jobs in the workforce, which often proves unsustainable.
Additionally, upon retirement from active sports, athletes who did not pursue further careers during their active years, despite having the experience and skills to teach and mentor, often find themselves without professional opportunities to transition into school teaching positions.
Consequently, individuals might find themselves having to begin their professional lives anew or facing unemployment. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Education and Sports could implement various crucial measures to reshape Uganda’s education system so that sports receive the acknowledgment they merit, as outlined below: Firstly, sports must be incorporated as an evaluated course within primary schools and at the A-level stage.
This will help in identifying young talents at an early stage and supporting their development. Similarly, the Ministry must guarantee that physical education instructors are well-trained, certified, and possess hands-on experience in teaching specific sports. Additionally, schools should be provided with appropriate facilities and gear to deliver high-quality sporting instruction.
Additionally, the Ministry should also ensure that universities offer sports-related courses. This would enable students to pursue professional careers in the sports sector. Further, I propose that the Ministry authorizes institutions to offer special professional courses that allow retired athletes to transition into teaching and coaching roles in schools, leveraging their experience to identify, nurture, train, and mentor the next generation of athletes.
In realizing the above vision, the Ministry should do following: Ensure that the National Curriculum is revised to incorporate sports as an examinable subject at the Primary and A levels; Establish a dedicated committee of educational experts, sports professionals, and stakeholders to design a comprehensive sports curriculum that covers both theoretical and practical aspects of physical education; Ensure that the new curriculum includes career pathways in sports, teaching students about the many opportunities available in sports; Launch a national training program and certifications for sports education teachers, and ensure that they are qualified and equipped to deliver high-quality sports education; Encourage retired athletes to pursue teaching credentials, allow them to bring their experience and expertise back to the classroom;
Dedicate resources for building and enhancing sports infrastructure in educational institutions, along with supplying essential athletic materials such as balls, attire, and exercise apparatuses to guarantee effective physical education instruction by educators; Establish university-level sport degrees or highlight current ones and collaborate with global higher learning institutions renowned for their top-tier sports curricula to attract specialized knowledge and facilitate student exchanges within Uganda.
Although this idea might appear innovative, it isn’t entirely new as various nations such as Kenya, South Africa, the USA, Chile, Norway, and Ireland have already incorporated sports into their educational frameworks. Besides providing targeted and cost-effective programs enabling former athletes to shift into instructional and coaching positions within schools, should Uganda adopt these measures, it could potentially lead the way for others to follow.
Ms Dorah Akello serves as both a sports and intellectual property (IP) attorney and holds the position of CEO at Talent for Wealth Initiative Ltd.
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