The Importance of Physical Education in Schools
- Updated on 23 Jan 2020
- Sports
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 behaviors. Physical activities and sports activities help in boosting the knowledge learned in the classroom.
- 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 behavior. 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 instill team building, leadership, and management skills in them.
- 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 the 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.
- Breaks Monotony, Helps to Focus
We all know what happens to us we do not take breaks. It affects our work and we lose focus. Kids too are susceptible to this monotony. They need more than one break in a day if they are completely academically-focussed. This is where physical education comes into the picture. When students get involved with physical activity in the school, they can break the monotony and burn up the excess energy that is causing boredom, leading them to fidget in the classroom as well as not being able to pay attention in the classroom.
- Learn The Importance of Staying Healthy
We all learn by observing others. Similarly, children learn by watching our actions and behaviors. They need someone that can act as a role model and help them to start exercising to stay fit. Physical education is one of the best ways to teach them the basics of exercising. We all know how physical education introduces students to exercises and when they enjoy that, they will continue to do it for the rest of their lives. Physical education is also one of the best ways to learn about the different kinds of physical activities that they can enjoy.
- Nutrition
One of the main elements of physical education is nutrition and there’s no denying that. Children learn about the importance of nutrition during physical education classes. They also learn about key nutritional guidelines.
- Learn Positive Behaviors
According to an old English proverb, “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop,” and that holds true for students who sit idle. Both classroom education and physical education keep them engaged and prevent them from going astray. And when they are engaged with physical activities, they get to work as a team. When engaged in physical education, students will also learn to value education.
Conclusion
Many CBSE 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. At Orchids The International School, we are 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.
