“The finding is worrying”. This is how senators Béatrice Gosselin (Les Républicains) and Laure Darcos (Les Indépendants-République et Territories group) summarize their analysis of the implementation of the 30-minute daily physical activity (APQ) program in schools, launched in February 2020 by the organization. committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as part of its legacy program, and taken over by the government.
In their report, published on Friday, September 27, the senators first emphasize that this program has not been implemented as widely as public authorities were willing to claim. “Contrary to official statements, only 42% of schools apply the APQ to the majority of their students, a figure well below the 90% announced by the President of the Republic”write the two elected officials.
The system, which was initially offered to voluntary schools, was officially expanded to all primary schools at the beginning of the 2022 school year. “partial deployment” would cling to “a lack of coordination between the different actors involved”but also to “Objectives that are not yet clear.”
Lack of sports kits.
Recalling that the announcement of the generalization of 30 minutes to all primary schools at the beginning of the 2022 school year was made on June 2, 2022 by the President of the Republic, they point out that“We had to wait more than six weeks to receive a memorandum from the Ministry of National Education to translate the presidential statement.” but without bringing “There are no clarifications or additional means for teachers to concretely implement the system.”
Regarding the media, the report highlights in particular that the distribution of sports equipment, which constituted a “an important part of ministerial communication”It was complicated. This “It was going to be distributed to all schools before the end of 2023, but due to delays in delivery before the end of the 2024 school year”. However, according to the two senators “This new deadline has not been respected throughout the territory.” In this regard they mention “difficulties in the journey between the storage place for the kits at the academic or district level and each school,” but also “an insufficient number” of kits.
Although he insisted that the announcement of the generalization of the 30 minutes of APQ had awakened “many questions” among teachers, many of them suffer from it “perceived as the need to add 30 minutes of sport a day to school time that cannot be extended”, The authors of the report consider above all that “The name of this device has been misinterpreted.”
Physical activity and sports activity “are not synonymous”
“The use of sporting rather than physical activity terms and the presentation of the system as a means to “fully integrate sport into school”, mixing sports clubs, professional sports and sporting events have sown problems with its objective. “, Béatrice Gosselin and Laure Darcos advance.
Physical activities and sports activities. “they are not synonyms”, they insist, deploring that “The sports aspect dominates presidential communication in this system”while, according to them, it should be “Above all, a way to combat sedentary lifestyle.”
do30 minutes of APQ “They do not intend to build a “sports nation”, but rather a “healthy nation””consider the authors of the report, regretting, incidentally, “the regrettable absence” a public health evaluation of the benefits of the system: “With rare exceptions – in Upper France, for example, where the regional academic management associated the Regional Health Agency (ARS) with youth, commitment and sport – the ARS did not participate in the deployment of this system”.
Regarding the educational aspect, the first evaluations show, however, for the students,“an improvement in learning conditions”. “Active breaks organized in class between two sequences allow students to refocus and return to conditions conducive to learning. Others highlight a calm school climate and better interactions between students”the two senators detail.
These make six recommendations. In particular, they write, it is necessary. “reaffirm the public health objectives that have been assigned”for example changing the name of the system to “active and wellness breaks”. They also highlight the need to support teachers “in its daily implementation” and associate “all the actors involved in the child’s time”, whether they are municipalities or authorized sports associations – “so far little concerted action for this project” –as well as parents. It is like this, according to them,” avoid ” that this initiative does not remain “a gadget” of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
