Balancing students' brain and brawn

For long, many Chinese students have looked at physical education as an insignificant part of school life. Many a time a teacher of one of the "main subjects” such as Chinese, mathematics or physics would turn up during physical education class, saying "the physical education teacher is unwell”. Or, if no teacher turned up, the students themselves would focus on these subjects that are important for competitive examinations later in life. Physical education could wait.

But all that could change soon, as the Beijing education authorities plan to raise the marks for physical education in senior high school entrance exams from 40 to 70, adding 14 sports subjects – among them gymnastics, table tennis, swimming and badminton – that students can choose from.

However, the goal is not so much to ensure that students score high. Rather, it is to ensure that the young form healthy sporting habits. Introducing such reforms could help change their attitude toward physical education.

The 70 marks consist of 40 marks for process assessment and 30 marks as onsite score. The process assessment is a comprehensive test of body mass index, vital capacity, 50 meters running, sitting body flexion, 1-minute rope jumping, 1-minute sit ups etc. The students are tested for these in the first semester of the fourth, sixth and eighth grades and such a system could encourage young students to exercise more often. Process assessment just aims at making students cultivate a habit of exercising.

The onsite score of 30 once seemed very exam-oriented, as students had limited sporting activities to choose from, namely running (800 m for girls and 1,000 m for boys) or playing football, basketball or volleyball. But now, students have 14 more options, such as table tennis and badminton, to choose from. In a nutshell, students will not only get to score higher but also play their preferred games.

This not only respects students' choices, but more importantly all these sporting disciplines that require teamwork will enhance students' cooperation level, confrontation and competition skills, while improving their endurance, strength, speed and passion.

Overall, our children should have a perfect balance of brain and brawn.

The author is a writer with China Daily.