January 13, (THEWILL) – In a bid to promote school sports in the state, the Bayelsa State Government says it will henceforth, deny approval to applications for the establishment of new schools that do not have fields for sporting activities and facilities for physical education.
The Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, stated this during a courtesy call by the Chairman and some directors of the Bayelsa State Post-Primary Schools Board at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, the Deputy Governor emphasised that going forward, the government would only grant approval to schools that have a space for outdoor sports events.
According to Senator Ewhrudjakpo, this measure would go a long way to assist the state in developing young malleable talents, especially at the secondary school level.
He remarked that the reintroduction of physical education in the school curriculum to promote sports development was an imperative that needs to be vigorously pursued by all stakeholders in the education value chain.
According to the Deputy Governor, the government would, through its Ministry of Education and that of Youths and Sports Development, organise a special training programme for games masters in all secondary schools across the state.
He noted that the proposal of the Post Primary Schools Board to organise a biennial sports festival among secondary schools was a welcome development that must be encouraged.
Senator Ewhrudjakpo, therefore, directed the Ministries of Education and Youth and Sports Development, to work out the necessary modalities with the board for the event.
His words: “Going forward, no school should be approved if they do not have fields, they must have fields because most of our schools do not have fields for sports activities, especially the private schools.
“We must reintroduce physical training/education back to the school curriculum, where within the school, a particular day is set out for sports.
“On the issue of the biannual school festival, we are fully in support and encourage more activities like this. We need to look for which time will be auspicious because right now, the school calendar is choked due to the flood.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the Post Primary Schools Board, Chief Millionaire Asangba, explained that the board was seeking the approval and support of the State Government to train games masters at the post-primary school level.
Chief Millionaire, who scored the State Government high on its commitment to sports development so far, appealed for support towards the proposed biannual secondary schools sports festival in the state.
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