No.44 May 2005 |
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The immediate aftermath of the Physical Education
World Summit included the Appeal to the MINEPS III meeting, which
sought ministerial commitment to developing strategies for effective implementation
of, and properly resourced, physical education programmes, and to mobilise
inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations, public and private
sectors to co-operate in the promotion and development of physical education.
Subsequently, the Punta del Este Declaration endorsed the Berlin Agenda
for Action and called upon member states to implement it through incorporation
in school programmes or, as a minimum, meeting with any legal requirements
with respect to physical education programmes in school curricula. In
expressing concern about the curtailment in opportunities for children
to participate in physical education, Kaisa Savolainen, Director of the
Department of Education for Culture of Peace, commented that "…
Twenty one years after the proclamation of the International Charter,
physical education and sport at school… did not yet seem to be national
priorities and were often the target of budget cuts” (UNESCO, 1999,
pp.3-4). In essence, this was an acknowledgement that member states were
not wholly complying with the UNESCO Charter.
A year after the publication of the World-wide Survey
Final Report (Hardman and Marshall, 2000), a Council of Europe
Committee for the Development of Sport (CDDS) ‘Working Group of
Experts’ on Access of Children to Physical Education and Sport
picked up the baton. The Working Group resolved to examine the situation
of school physical education and sport in member states with a view to
providing informed recommendations for discussion and action at the Informal
Meeting of Ministers responsible for Sport in Warsaw, Poland 12-13 September
2002. In the event, the ministerial Conclusions acknowledged
a serious decline in the quality and the time allocated for teaching physical
education and sport in schools as well as inadequate opportunities to
participate in recreational sport out of school. Additionally, they indicated
a need to study ways in which the provision of physical education and
sport can be improved in Council of Europe member countries for all children
and young people, including those with disabilities. According to the
Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe in her Warsaw Informal
Ministerial Meeting Opening Address “the crux of the issue is that
there is too much of a gap between the promise and the reality”
(De Boer-Buquicchio, 2002, p.2).
The MINEPS III Declaration of Punta del Este (1999)
was an encouraging initial development, but restructuring within UNESCO
hindered implementation. The restructuring reduced visibility accorded
to physical education and sport. Nonetheless, at the UNESCO ‘Round
Table Meeting’ of Ministers and Senior Officials of Physical Education
and Sport in Paris in January 2003 along with proposals related to protection
of young athletes and anti-doping, the Communiqué adopted
by representatives from 103 countries noted that in many countries physical
education was being increasingly marginalised within and outside education
systems. To reverse the marginalisation trend, the ‘Round Table’
participants committed themselves to working for implementation of MINEPS
III policy principles and the full recognition of the place and inclusivity
of physical education and sport both within and outside education systems.
The fact that this commitment to implementation was more than three years
on from the MINEPS III Punta del Este Declaration is perhaps a stark reminder
of the limitations of UNESCO’s spheres of influence! The participants
requested the UNESCO Director-General to draw the United Nations’
Secretary-General’s attention to the importance of physical education
and sport and to the desirability of debating this topic in the General
Assembly. Additionally, they sought to have the Communiqué presented
to the Fourth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials
Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS IV), eventually scheduled
for December 2004 in Athens (http//:www.UNESCO.org,
2003). UNESCO General Conference (October, 2003) proclaimed 2005 as an
International Year on Physical Education and Sport. One of the follow-up
issues of the January 2003 Ministers ‘Round-Table’ that UNESCO
has to deal with is the development of an International Anti-Doping Convention,
to supplement the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) work, into which
much effort is directed and at the expense of addressing physical education-related
concerns; of course, doping issues are much more ‘glamorous’
than school physical education. UNESCO’s apparent ineptitude hitherto
in progressing the cause for physical education has been tempered somewhat
by the announcement of a Proposal for a Strategic Action Plan to Reinforce
Physical Education and Sport which will contain a visionary statement
for 2004-2015 on essential elements of ‘Quality Physical Education’.
The Plan is to be presented at the MINEPS IV Meeting in Athens. Meanwhile,
arguably the most powerful advocate for physical education in the United
Nations’ system is the World Health Organisation (WHO), especially
with its adoption of a Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity
and Health.
The UNESCO Communiqué echoes some
of the set of Conclusions agreed by the European Ministers at
their Informal Meeting in Warsaw in September 2002. However, the prescriptive
Conclusions (Hardman, 2002) embracing issues of quality and delivery
(curriculum content, facilities and equipment, teacher training), inclusion,
more active lifestyles and an associated variety of pan-European programmes,
implementation of a range of measures grouped around perceived spheres
of influence (home and family, school, local and wider community collaborative
provision and flexible programmes), development of relevant and appropriate
national policies, intergovernmental co-operation, sharing information,
research findings and national experiences in physical activity promotion
were adopted as Recommendations by the Council of Europe Committee
of Ministers on 30 April 2003. Notably, however, in the Appendix to
the Recommendation, was a significant reference to physical education
time allocation: an agreement to “move towards a compulsory legal
minimum of 180 minutes weekly, in three periods, with schools endeavouring
to go beyond this minimum where this is possible” (Council of Europe,
Committee of Ministers (2003) and a call for one hour of daily physical
activity in or out of school settings. Previously, the final (revised)
Conclusions had referred to “quality” with an undefined
time allocation (Bureau of the Committee for the Development of Sport,
2002a): the consensus amongst ministerial representatives was that 180
minutes was unrealistic and for at least one country’s representative
was unacceptable! It remains to be seen what impact, if any, the ministerial
deliberations may have. It is encouraging to see physical education and
sport in schools on the Council of Europe political agenda but the status
of Recommendations is far removed from any form of mandatory
requirement of member states and again raises doubts whether such intergovernmental
agency policy will actually be implemented and “promise” converted
into “reality”.
As well as inter-governmental initiatives since the
Berlin Physical Education Summit, a number of European non-governmental
organisations have begun to address issues and concerns surrounding physical
education in schools. Two examples will suffice as illustrations. In October
2002, the European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation (ENGSO) held a
two-day forum in Malta, in which access to physical education in schools
and the role of non-governmental organisations in contributing to a sustainable
future for school physical education were main themes discussed. ENGSO
pledged its support for school physical education through appropriate
partnership advocacy initiatives and demonstrated interest in the European
Union Physical Education Association’s (EUPEA) Code of Ethics
and Good Practice Guide for Physical Education to inform its own
planned code of ethics and practice for personnel involved in sport. A
landmark for EUPEA itself, founded in 1991 to “promote more and
better physical education all over Europe”, was its 1st Symposium,
9th November 2002 in Brussels, Belgium on the topical theme
of Quality Physical Education. Nearly 200 delegates from 35 countries
attended the Symposium from which a number of perceived challenges emerged.
These challenges embrace minimal time requirements, balanced programmes,
inclusion strategies and policies, teacher education and competencies,
in-service training and planned continuing professional development, ways
and means of disseminating good practice and understanding frameworks
used by young people to interpret physical education in contexts of national
and cultural diversity across Europe. In summarising the deliberations
of the Symposium, EUPEA Vice-President Chris Laws (2002) concluded that
in striving for a relevant physical education curriculum there is a role
for all European Physical Education Associations to act to provide “quality
experiences for all children”. Clearly there is concurrence here
with the UNESCO Communiqué and the Council of Europe’s
ministerial Recommendations.
Concluding Comments
The Berlin Physical Education Summit Agenda
for Action for Government Ministers, the Punta del Este Declaration,
the Council of Europe’s 2002 Conclusions and 2004 Recommendations
and UNESCO’s 2003 ‘Round Table’ Communiqué
together with various WHO, IOC and some national governments’ initiatives
amongst others demonstrate that there is now an international consensus
that issues surrounding physical education in schools deserve serious
consideration in order to solve existing and future problems. It is imperative
that monitoring of developments in physical education across the world
is maintained. Both the Council of Europe’s ministerial Conclusions
and Recommendations and the UNESCO ‘Round Table’
Communiqué called for monitoring systems to be put into place
to regularly review the situation of physical education in each country.
Indeed, the Council of Europe referred to the introduction of provision
for a pan-European survey on physical education policies and practices
every five years as a priority! (Bureau of the Committee for the Development
of Sport, 2002a and 2002b; Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers,
2004). “Promises” need to be converted into “reality”
if continuing threats are to be surmounted and a safe future for physical
education in schools is to be secured. Otherwise with the Council of Europe
Deputy Secretary General’s intimation of a gap between “promise”
and “reality”, there is a real danger that the Informal Ministers’
meeting’s agreed Conclusions and Recommendations
will remain just that – more “promise” than “reality”
in too many countries across the world and compliance with Council of
Europe and UNESCO Charters will continue to remain compromised.
References
Bureau of the Committee for the Development of Sport,
(2002a). Draft conclusions on improving physical education and sport
for children and young people in all European countries. MSL-IM16
(2002) 5 Rev.3. 16th Informal Meeting of European Sports Ministers,
Warsaw, Poland, 12-13 September. Strasbourg, Council of Europe.
Bureau of the Committee for the Development of Sport,
(2002b). Draft conclusions on improving physical education and sport
for children and young people in all European countries. Revised by
the Drafting Group. MSL-IM16 (2002) 5 Rev.4. 16th Informal Meeting
of European Sports Ministers, Warsaw, Poland, 12-13 September. Strasbourg,
Council of Europe.
BVLO, (2002). Minutes of 13th EUPEA
Forum Meeting. Brussels, 8 November.
Council of Europe (2001). European “Sport for All” Charter. Strasbourg, Council of Europe. Council of Europe, Committee of Ministers, (2004). Recommendation Rec(2003)6 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on improving physical education and sport for children and young people in all European countries. Strasbourg, Council of Europe, 30 April. De Boer-Buqicchio, M. (2002). Opening Address.
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Hardman, K., (2002). Council of Europe Committee
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Hardman, K., and Marshall, J.J. (2000). World-wide
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Manchester, University of Manchester.
Laws, C. (2002). Report on 1st EUPEA Symposium, Brussels, 9th November 2002. Personal Communication. Savolainen, K. (1999). Third International Conference
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UNESCO (1978), Charter for Physical Education
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Hardman
Executive Board Member International Society for Comparative Physical Education and Sport (ISCPES) Manchester, UK Email: ken.hardman@tiscali.co.uk ![]() http://www.icsspe.org/portal/bulletin-may2005.htm |