Brussels, 19/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - The Sports Council meeting on Tuesday 19 May explained that practising sport was crucial to maintaining good physical and mental health. In the afternoon a debate was held to discuss possibilities for developing cooperation between education establishments and local sports organisations, in an effort to ensure that young people had more exercise because they are increasingly affected by obesity.
Marite Seile, the Latvian minister for education, chaired the debates and said “sport is an essential component in quality education… There is enormous potential and we can do more with it… We need to continue to exchange our experiences… Efficient cooperation and complementarity of our actions are essential”. The Commissioner responsible for sport, Tibor Navracsics, said that schools played a fundamental role in attaining the levels of activities recommended by the health bodies. This explains the importance of European Sport Week on 7-13 September 2015, which will seek to promote physical activity and sport among young people.
Ministers provided examples of successful cooperation at national levels between education institutions and sports bodies. They also mentioned the challenges that restricted the provision of sport in schools, such as the lack of financial resources related to the economic crisis or the non-obligatory character of sport in schools, which means that schools neglect the importance of sport in their educational programmes. Some of the ministers mentioned a number of negative points that have a negative impact on the attractiveness of sport for young people: a too sedentary lifestyle among young children related to the popularity of video games, not enough specialists providing sport courses in schools and the lack of sports infrastructure.
Before the ministerial debate, the Italian, Latvian, Luxembourg and Dutch ministers who have been responsible, are responsible or will be responsible for exercising the Presidency of the Council, held a meeting as part of the structured dialogue with representatives from sports organisations, to discuss synergies between the education and sports sectors. Seile said that this discussion had demonstrated that sport provided added value to education because it improved results. (Isabelle Lamberty)