Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-12-Speech-1-066"
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"en.20071112.17.1-066"2
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".
Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, allow me first of all to express my thanks for the numerous remarks and recommended improvements that have been sent for my report. My objective was to talk about strengthening the role of school PE and sport in education.
In order to improve the state of health and physical condition of children of school age, we recommend that PE in schools be made compulsory in primary and secondary schools, and that there be an opportunity for children to exercise at least three times a week as part of the curriculum. Sport has a prominent role in promoting social integration and reinforcing social cohesion, in so far as sport is an important tool for socialisation and intercultural dialogue.
The issue of gender equality has been given a big role in the report. I also feel it is important that those who live with a disability should also participate in regular PE at school that corresponds to their needs and is increasingly integrated. In my report, I also mention that PE and organised sports at school play a prominent role, not only physically but also mentally, in the healthy development of children and, at the same time, a level of socialisation. I recommend in my report that the regions that have been left behind in this field should be able to compete for funding for sports investment from the Structural Funds.
Finally, I would like to thank the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, and the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs for their valuable contributions to the report. Ladies and gentlemen, I respectfully ask you to support my report. Thank you for your attention.
Nearly a quarter of the children living in the European Union are overweight, and 50% of them only participate in sports activities during school PE classes, whilst the number of PE classes is continuously falling. As a result of this dangerous process, diabetes, high blood pressure, diseases of the heart and nervous system, spinal and vascular ailments are spreading throughout Europe and will significantly increase the health care expenditure of individual Member States in the future.
We cannot allow ourselves to compensate for the inactive lifestyle and sedentary everyday life typical of European adolescents by neglecting such a simple yet effective tool as the PE class. As a one-time Olympian, a practising sports director and naturally as an MEP, it is my obligation and my responsibility to find a way for the Union to do its share in the fight against obesity in pupils, in supporting a healthy, active lifestyle, in establishing the health of European adolescents and in the process of education through sport.
Allow me to congratulate the heads of the Member States on their wise decision not to forget sport at the latest Lisbon summit and to give the Union the right of initiative in sport after approving the Reform Treaty. The Commission has prepared numerous programmes for promoting a healthy lifestyle, and in the field of healthy nutrition, but there is not enough coordination among these programmes. Sports experts, PE teachers and trainers must be given a greater role and respect in their implementation.
It must be said that the White Paper on Sport published by the Commission in July, and the Action Plan relating to it, are a step in the right direction. We are also counting on the cooperation of the Commission in promoting research that is important for sports experts, and in gathering statistical data to measure the sporting activities of pupils and their physical condition.
I feel it is important that, using lifelong learning and the framework of the Bologna process, we can promote mobility and continued training for trainers and PE teachers, we can mutually recognise the degrees that attest to their qualifications, and we can assist with more effective cooperation among organisations of sports experts.
In addition to physical exercise, PE in schools develops such important qualities as persistence, team spirit, willpower and fair play, which the young people entrusted to us will be able to benefit from throughout their lives. School sports facilities and gymnasia in the Member States are often extraordinarily neglected, and they are poorly maintained and shabby. Another great problem is the lack of qualified PE teachers, that is, the disorganised state of further professional training and the fact that the content of the PE curriculum is out of date.
Unfortunately, PE in schools has lost its importance, although it is the basis for both physical and mental development. Delicate and rough movements, which can be well developed through sport and popular games or any activity involving movement, are also essential in the study of reading and writing. It is no accident that dyslexic and dysgraphic children are also treated using movement therapy.
PE is the only subject in the curriculum that focuses not only on mental development but also on physical development, the development of an active culture and hygiene. It is a joint task for PE teachers and parents to teach and encourage children to have a healthy lifestyle and to take regular exercise, and to draw their attention to the harmful physical and mental effects of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs, alcohol and other drugs."@en1
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