In the early mornings, my clock radio kicks off the day with “Radio Romania” as part of the Canadian Broadcast Company’s morning programming (depending on how long I stay in bed, I can also hear English broadcasts from South Korea, Australia and Poland).

Not long ago, while rubbing the sleep from my eyes and nudging the dog off the bed, I overheard the Romanian announcers discussing the state of physical education and youth fitness in their country. The situation sounded familiar, yet different.

While a quick check in Wikepedia shows that physical education is mandatory in elementary school and that their system includes specialist PE high schools, Romanian physical education does have its problems – just as it does in North America.

Here is a short list of some of the problems they discussed. See how they compare to your own situation:

• Sports and PE facilities are becoming less available as schoolyards are sold to developers for apartments and other developments.
• When facilities do exist, they are often off-limits to students. Schools rent them out to clubs as a way to raise funds.
• Many students don’t take PE because they don’t wish to carry their gym clothing with them during the school day. The problem is that few Romanian schools have lockers.
• Kids prefer to take city buses to school when they could easily walk.
• Children often spending recess time playing video games.

From Radio Romania International, 2/12/09
http://www.rri.ro/index.shtml?lang=1

Dick Moss, Editor,
PE Update.com

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[tags]physical education problems,Romania[/tags]