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צילום: קובי וולף
Israel falls behind on physical education in schools
France teaching over twice the amount of phys-ed taught to kids in Israel – just 90 minutes a week
The Knesset Information and Research Center has reported that physical education in Israel falls far beneath global standards, with just 90 minutes a week being taught to secular children and a paltry 40 minutes a week to ultra-Orthodox kids.
The results include a steady increase in the number of overweight Israeli schoolchildren, at a rate climbing much faster than their European counterparts, who are taught at least 150 minutes of physical education per week.
Leaders in this field are France, which requires of its children 240 minutes per week, and Hungary, where children are active for 230 weekly minutes.
Another result, according to the report handed to the Knesset, is a failure to find and train young athletes in Israel.
MK Yariv Levin (Likud), who chairs the research center, said Israel was falling behind Europe in the field of athletics. "The education system does not treat these lessons with the respect they deserve, nor does it take part in efforts to encourage kids to participate in sports," Levin said.
But the Education Ministry begged to differ. "In addition to two weekly hours, schools have different ways of increasing physical activities and sports, such as field days, active recess, sports classes, and inter-school competitions," said Avraham Zuchman, who heads the ministry's physical education department.
Zuchman added that phys-ed classes account for 10% of the students' grades, and that teachers were working to single out talented kids and recommend them for additional athletic training.
