The role of physical education in the school system

The number of non-educational activities that children do in India has increased over the last few years. With rising incomes, the proliferation of places selling junk food, and the easy availability of non-academic activities, children are spending less time keeping themselves healthy. Add to this the proliferation of mobiles, TV, and computers and you know why children are no longer keen on health.

The answer to this is physical education in schools in India as it plays a very consequential role in keeping children fit and active. Physical education helps in developing students’ competence and confidence. It helps them to take part in a wide range of physical activities that are crucial to their lives—both in and out of school.

A high-quality physical education program enables all students to enjoy and succeed in many kinds of physical activities. The importance of physical education programs is to help students to develop a wide range of skills as well as gives them the ability to use tactics, strategies, and newer ideas to perform successfully both at home and school.

Benefits of Physical Education

1.Teaches Ethical Traits

The first benefit of physical education is that it teaches ethical traits that students need to thrive in this competitive world. The main ethics that they learn from physical education are perseverance and work ethics. Whether in physical education or sports, disputes often arise and only ethics and perseverance from the players can reduce the disputes.

2.Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is the key ingredient for a healthy lifestyle. This is why physical education is an important element in most schools. When students have regular fitness activities as part of their daily regimen,  they stay fit and healthy. Regular physical activities daily help in better absorption of nutrients in the body and also helps in improving cardiovascular health and developing muscular strength.

3.Improvement in Academic Performance

One of the advantages of physical education is that it helps in improving the academic performance of the students. Most physical activities that students do in schools are related to higher levels of concentration which in turn help with better behaviours. Physical activities and sports activities help in boosting the knowledge learned in the classroom.

4.Social Interaction

Apart from the classroom, physical education is the only time when students can meet and interact with their classmates and other schoolmates. It helps improve their social behaviour. During the physical education class, they learn to cooperate through various group activities and get a sense of identity from each other as well as of the team. These social activities continue to play an important role in the growth of a student into a better professional. For instance, sports is one of the best sources to instil team building, leadership, and management skills in them.

5.Reduces Stress

There’s immense academic pressure on kids lately. Most schools give importance to core subjects and students are under tremendous pressure to perform better in these subjects. Even after spending several hours in school, they have to work on homework at home and this leaves them with little time to do anything else. And because children spend a lot of hours on academics, this leads to a lot of mental and physical pressure. Physical activity can help take some of those stress and anxiety away. It can also lead to emotional resilience and stability.

CONCLUSION

Many schools have made physical education an essential part of their education program because they know that physical education plays a key role in the development of a student’s life. This is because of the fact students who participate in physical activities are always happier and healthier than those students that spend all their time studying. It has been known physical activities help in providing more oxygen to the heart and brain and allows the body to maintain a balance between physical and mental health.

Schools should consider several factors in the development of physical activities and one of those is the age of the student. Schools need to have age-appropriate physical education programs for students. Schools should be aware of the importance of physical education and have a healthy mix of academic, non-academic, and physical education activities for the holistic growth of the children.