Students throughout China will have a common period for sports this Sunday as the education authorities work to encourage students to get more involved in exercise, reports the Xinmin Evening News.
Millions of students in primary, middle schools and colleges will be organized to have a one-hour exercise period from 10 AM to 11AM on Sunday, according to a joint notice released by the Ministry of Education, the General Administration of Sports and the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, an organization of youth led by the Communist Party of China.
As people will enjoy a week-long holiday from May 1 to May 7 for Labor Day, the preceding weekends of April 28-29 will be working days as a swap.
The notice said schools can choose different activities according to their resources. It added the activity will also be attended by government officials. Schools are required to submit reports about the activity to the three authorities.
A PE teacher surnamed Yuan in Shanghai Shixi Middle School aid in an interview with Xinmin Evening News, ‘An inappropriate educational concept among parents, which puts study ahead of anything else, imposes a great burden on students, which leads to less sports time for students and affects their healthy growth.
‘The country needs to form a long-term system to encourage students to join in sports rather than simply exercising for one or two hours.’
To build up students’ body strength, the report urged schools throughout the country to improve their sports facilities and open ball courts, gymnasiums and fields to young people.
Source: China.org.cn