Vol. 404 No. 9
10 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education if she will outline her views on the findings of a recent survey carried out by the Thomond College of Education regarding the fitness levels of Irish pupils; and the steps she intends to take to rectify the matter.
26 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Education the measures she intends to take to improve the fitness levels of Irish primary school children, in view of the findings of recent national and regional surveys.
36 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Education the measures she intends to take to improve the fitness levels of Irish primary school children, in view of the findings of recent national and regional surveys.
39 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Education the measures she intends to take to improve the fitness levels of Irish primary school children, in view of the findings of recent national and regional surveys.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 26, 36 and 39 together.
I am aware of the findings of the report referred to which was funded by the Research Committee of Cospóir. The report clearly shows that in many instances Irish children were found to be above the international norm. However, I am concerned to ensure that all possible measures are taken to improve the overall fitness levels of the Irish pupils.
On completion of the comprehensive consultation process which I have arranged through the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment on the Report of the Review Body on the Primary Curriculum, the syllabus on physical education will be examined to determine what follow-up action should be taken.
I am sure the Minister finds the findings of this study alarming. Would he not accept that in view of the correlation between physical well being and academic achievement that our dominant position in Europe as a prime producer of highly educated students and graduates is in danger of being eroded if something is not done to tackle the poor state of physical health of many of the students in our country? Would he not undertake an immediate investigation of the practical steps that can be taken in school and intervene by way of additional resources be they human or practical at teachers' disposal in order to alleviate the problem?
I do not accept that a major problem exists in our primary schools. In many instances Irish school children were above the international norm. The Deputy's question seems to indicate that we have a major problem. In fact, there is very significant progress being made with regard to physical education in primary schools and that progress is being added to continuously through the provision of further in-service training for teachers. For the first time this year there are equipment grants for small items of sports equipment for one, two and three teacher schools. I accept that there is a necessity to make further progress with regard to the development of physical education in the primary school curriculum and this matter is now being examined with a view to having this progress undertaken.
Listening to the Minister's reply one would think that all was well with physical education in our primary schools. Is the Minister for Education aware of a survey which I carried out myself in primary schools last year where I got a response from 1,500 schools which showed quite clearly that 80 per cent of the schools showed a total lack of funding for physical education, has very little equipment and, in general, were of the opinion that the Department of Education had no interest whatsoever in physical education? Has the Minister any intention of trying to provide a pilot survey in certain areas where he provides specialist physical education training, and what schedules has he in mind for in-service courses in physical education at the moment?
This questioning is going on too long.
I have one final point. There is very little physical education in the training colleges.
Deputy Deenihan must desist——
You seem to get great satisfaction from cutting me short.
Deputy Deenihan must desist from putting a series of questions in omnibus form.
I am always very fair, a Cheann Comhairle.
I am aware of the survey that the Deputy carried out. Everybody accepts that there is a shortage of money for many aspects of primary school education. I certainly would like to see more money being made available, and the Minister and I are striving at all times to make more money available.
However, within the constraints that have been placed upon us in the last number of years, we have progressed significantly the development of physical culture within the primary school system. We are quite satisfied that, mainly due to the very good response of primary teachers, significant progress is being made, not just with the development of physical education in primary schools but also in the development of sport in primary schools. I accept that the availability of equipment has not always been as we would have hoped and it is for that reason that we provided an additional £80,000 this year for grants for every primary school in the country with one, two or three primary school teachers so that they could avail of the equipment that is necessary for both physical education and sports.
Finally, we are progressing even further the development of in-service training courses, and the Minister is addressing this whole question in the policy paper which she is at present preparing. Certainly we want to see a much greater role for physical education in the primary school curriculum and the objective is to progress in that direction.
I regret that the Minister has not seen fit to recognise the extent of the problem. Does the Minister accept that one of the findings of the survey was that there is a greater problem in disadvantaged areas and that the level of physical fitness of pupils in these schools was far below the national average? Will the Minister consider allocating additional resources immediately to those areas? In conjunction with the Department of Health will she consider putting together a pilot programme to encourage a healthier lifestyle and greater physical activities among pupils in order to ensure that there will not be as great a demand on the health services in the future as a result of the preventive measures taken now?
There are extra grants available, as the Deputy is aware, for schools in disadvantaged areas.
They are not enough.
Those grants can be made available for the purposes which he outlined. I might add also that there is a major initiative in place at present which involves the development of liaison with the home, the improvement of diet and so on. I accept there is a serious difficulty in disadvantaged areas. However, we have been biased in our support for schools in those areas in regard to physical education and other aspects of the school curriculum.
The report did not recognise the bias.
Will the Minister consider extending the time allowed on the curriculum for physical education — this may be a pious aspiration — to more than one hour, as recommended, per week? Is the Minister aware that the requirement in France, for example is five hours; in West Germany it is three hours; in Luxembourg it is two hours; in England it is three hours and in most other countries it is more than two hours? Will the Minister consider extending the time available for physical education. Will he agree that the £100 grant which he made available this year — although small and very welcome in some cases — is derisory when trying to face up to this problem?
I recognise and accept that one hour per week is a very short period for physical education and this is one of the questions that is being addressed by the review body on the primary school curriculum. It is my wish to see the period for physical education increased. In response to the Deputy's last question I have to say that we would love to provide more money, we have made a start and we intend to continue to increase the amounts of money being made available.
Will the Minister accept that an alarming number of our national schools do not have facilities in the line of accommodation, for physical education or sporting activities? Will he accept that it is not merely a matter of equipment but there is a lack of recreation halls and other facilities? In a number of national schools, particularly in rural areas, only a cement or tarmacadam area is available on which to play and playing fields are not available? Will the Minister outline his proposals to meet this situation?
The main difficulty we have had over the past four years is that when we came into Government we found that more than an alarming number of schools did not have class rooms.
Passing the buck.
The first priority——
The Government had the national lottery handed to them and they spent it.
Questions have been asked; let us listen to the Minister's reply.
I realise that some of the Deputies opposite do not like to hear the truth but the truth of the matter is that four years ago there was a major problem with regard to the provision of classroom accommodation.
We built a lot more schools than Fianna Fáil did.
The Deputy should desist.
This had to take precedence over the provision of general purpose rooms and other recreational facilities. Even though that has taken place, the Minister has been more than anxious in all of the schools where development work has been carried out to provide the kind of facilities the Deputy has mentioned. We have made significant progress. However, I accept there is much work to be done in this area which all of us want to see done as expeditiously as possible.
