Mr. Chris Macey:

I thank the committee for this opportunity to discuss our concerns about the proposed changes to the junior cycle framework as they relate to the physical education, PE, curriculum. The Department currently recommends that students receive two hours of PE each week over the three-year junior cycle. Under the new proposals, PE will become an optional short course and-or part of the "other learning experiences" section of the curriculum. This means PE might not be offered at all by some schools. In schools that continue PE classes, the amount of time spent on them over the three-year cycle will be cut from the current 198 hours to just 100 hours. That means the Department is planning to cut the amount of time spent on PE by half at a time when the childhood obesity crisis is spiralling out of control, which has obviously been the subject of a great deal of discussion at this forum.

A recent study showed that at present, before any change has been made, just 10% of secondary school pupils receive the minimum recommended PE time. A quarter of the 5,000 children surveyed as part of this study are unfit, overweight, obese or have elevated blood pressure. In that context, we have to ask how on earth it will benefit these young people to cut the amount of time designated for PE almost in half. EU comparisons also paint a bleak picture of our performance in this regard. Ireland is the only EU member state in which PE is not compulsory. With an average of just 77 minutes a week being spent on PE at secondary level, our secondary provision record places us near the bottom of the EU league table. As I have said, a fraction of pupils receive the minimum recommended time. The average amount of time spent on PE in our primary schools - just 46 minutes a week - is the third lowest in the EU. The only conclusion we can draw from those statistics is that we are already abjectly failing our young people when it comes to PE. In all probability, things are about to get a lot worse.

It is clear that the proposals with regard to PE time breach various Government policies, particularly the cross-Government framework for health and well-being, known as Healthy Ireland. This policy, which was launched by the Taoiseach in April, includes a commitment to fully implement the PE programme in primary and secondary schools. That means that pupils in secondary schools should get at least two hours a week of PE classes. The most innovative and possibly the most important element of Healthy Ireland is the commitment to deliver, for the first time, a whole-of-Government approach to health in this country. This should involve health imperatives being factored into every policy of every Government Department. Any downgrading of PE would represent a failure on the part of the Department of Education and Skills to live up to this crucial goal. Apart from our specific concerns with regard to PE, it would have wide implications for a flagship Government health policy. I ask my colleague, Ms Mulvihill, to complete our presentation.