Competitive sport plan to be at centre of rounded education

December 21 2010

A new approach to school sports has been set out by the education secretary Michael Gove.

It means that those teaching in the UK in PE jobs will be given more funding to further embed competitive sport in schools, while also aiming to increase participation.

The Department for Education is promising to pay school sport partnerships for the full school year to the end of the 2011 summer term at a cost of £47 million, while a further £65 million will be paid to enable every secondary school to release a PE teacher for a day-a-week, ensuring that all benefits of the system are met.

"I want competitive sport to be at the centre of a truly rounded education that all schools offer. But this must be led by schools and parents, not by top down policies from Whitehall. It’s time to ensure what was best in school sport partnerships around the country is fully embedded," said Mr Gove, adding that he wants to move forward to a system where schools and parents are delivering on sports with competition at the heart.

However, the change of policy was described as "just the latest shambles" by shadow education minister Toby Perkins.

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