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EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Malta: Promoting wellbeing through increased sports activities in state schools

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News & Articles

Malta: Promoting wellbeing through increased sports activities in state schools

08 May 2023
volley players
Country news

To encourage wellbeing and healthy lifestyles, the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation (MEYR) is collaborating with several entities to offer schoolchildren increased access to sport. This is being done by enabling sports sessions to be held on the school premises or with the school’s support, both as part of the school timetable, as well as through activities organised during break or after school. It is hoped that this will provide children with greater access to physical activities and a larger variety of activities to try.  

This initiative is being carried out within the framework of A National Policy for Sport in Malta & Gozo 2017-2027. The policy recommends increasing physical activity from preschool to tertiary education, promoting active breaks and increasing sports during and after school hours.  

From sailing to football and all the way to innovative physical education pilots, here some of the activities that fall under the scope of this action: 

The Sport Career Development Programme is now in its fifth year of implementation, wherein two milestones will be reached in the school year 2022/23. This programme aims to contribute towards talent identification and harnessing, by providing four lessons of sport per week to children who show potential in the discipline following an application and assessment process. Entry to the programme takes place at either of two junctures: before entering Middle School or before entering Secondary School.

The Programme has added more disciplines, which now total 23. This year will also see the first cohort of Year 11 students, who will be awarded an Accreditation Certificate pegged at MQF Level 2 or 3, depending on their level of attainment. Following an agreement reached with respective institutions, the MQF Level 3 Accreditation Certificate is recognised for entry to some post-secondary education institutions, including at the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), the Institute for Tourism Studies (ITS), Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School and Sir M. A. Refalo Sixth Form in Gozo. Discussions are underway for this to be possible within other post-secondary institutions.  

Introduction to Sailing courses are being organised by the Jarhead Young Sailors Foundation. These are offered to children aged 11-16, particularly those from a challenging background. The course constitutes nine hours of training onboard the Foundation's X2 36-foot J-109 high-quality racing sailing boats.  

The Mini-Handball Project is being organised through a collaboration with the Malta Handball Association (MHA) and the European Handball Federation. Through this project, which targets several state primary schools, mini-handball games will be organised during the mid-day break, after school on a twice-weekly basis, and/or through mini-handball festivals. 

Fun Fit Football is a UEFA-supported initiative organised by the Malta Football Association (MFA) within the framework of a 2021 Memorandum of Understanding between the MFA and the then Ministry for Education. Fun Fit Football offers primary schoolchildren the opportunity to participate, during school hours, in sports activities aimed at developing children’s technical and motor skills.  

As an extension of the Fun Fit Football initiative, Fun Fit Five is being piloted with students in three Year 4 classes in Primary Schools in three different state schools. Fun Fit Five will provide one 45-minute physical activity session daily throughout the 2022/2023 scholastic year, replacing and extending the provision of physical education lessons normally provided within primary schools. Being a pilot project, the possible effects of Fun Fit Five on children’s wellness, physical and kinaesthetic abilities and academic development are being studied by researchers from the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). For this reason, the three Year 4 classes participating in this programme will be considered the intervention group, while another Year 4 class from each of the participating schools will act as the control group. It is hoped that Fun Fit Five will provide information on how schools can nurture, in a sustainable way, a healthy and active generation. 

The PlayMakers programme aims to increase the proportion of girls that meet the World Health Organization’s minimum standards for physical activity. This is done by introducing girls to football, through movement and play, through ten sessions that bring together the latest research on the benefits of play-based learning and storytelling. PlayMakers is coordinated by the Malta Football Association’s Women’s Department in collaboration with UEFA and Disney. 

Another initiative brought about through the collaboration with the Malta Football Association is the Football training camps for children who are promising in football. 

Swimming sessions, involving 5 swimming lessons for children attending Years 3-5 are organised, in collaboration with SportMalta, at the national pool at Tal-Qroqq and Kirkop Sports Complex. 

Ready, Set, Play festivals and Active Fridays are large-scale sports events, involving several classes and/or schools, led by the newly-appointed Events Team within the Centre for PE and Sport, in collaboration with the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST). 

Furthermore, the 2023 Budget for Malta pledged to increase the hours of Physical Education lessons. This is being informed by an ongoing Pilot Project, wherein all classes in all 8 primary schools within the St Benedict College, one of Malta’s 10 Colleges, have been receiving four physical activity lessons a week, double the two that are customarily given. 

Source: Eurydice Unit Malta 

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