Sports leaders to host PE seminar

Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
THE Sports Leaders Institute of Zimbabwe (SLIZ) will hold a seminar for Bulawayo teachers and headmasters next week, as part of efforts to equip them with knowledge ahead of the introduction of physical education (PE) into the schools’ curriculum.

Plans by the government to introduce PE into the schools’ curriculum next year are at an advanced stage and SLIZ are taking an active role in preparing teachers.

According to the deputy director of schools sport, physical education, arts and culture in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Tendai Tagara, the introduction of PE is part of government’s plans of cultivating and nurturing talent from the grassroots, as well as setting career paths for academically challenged children that are good in sport.

SLIZ, viewed as a potential game changer in regional sports administration having been endorsed by the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa, the Africa Union Sports Council Region 5, says next week’s platform will prepare Bulawayo participants for their winter camp set for Masvingo.

“As SLIZ, we’ve been going around the country embarking on a ‘Teaching the Teachers’ programme as we prepare for introduction of PE in our schools’ curriculum. We are coming to Bulawayo for a two-day workshop on June 15-16 and our targeted audiences are PE teachers, sports directors and headmasters.

“We want to define the duties of a sports master and that of the headmasters in as far as PE is concerned. There is a vast difference between PE and sport and this is what we’re unpacking,” said SLIZ director Russell Mhiribidi.

He said SLIZ is a body whose mission is to facilitate and provide a conducive environment for optimum growth and advancement of the nation’s sports leaders with emphasis on capacity building and professional development in line with existing global trends.

He said they would cover topics that include diet and nutrition, ethical issues such as age-cheating, ghost students, who appear in schools’ registers during sports season, as well as bribing.

SLIZ will also make presentations on event management and safety.

Mhiribidi said the Bulawayo workshop would be a snippet of what to expect at their annual winter camp to be held at the Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo from July 22-24.