Barbara Nowacka announces changes to children's physical fitness tests
On Tuesday, 11 June, a press conference was held with Education Minister Barbara Nowacka and Sports Minister Slawomir Nitras. Journalists asked them about the physical fitness tests conducted in many schools. Representatives of Donald Tusk's government unanimously stated that changes should be made to the tests.
Barbara Nowacka serves as the Minister of Education in Donald Tusk's third government. Since assuming the role, she has been exceptionally busy. She has focused on streamlining the core curriculum and compulsory reading list. Notably, she has ensured that from September 2024, religion grades will no longer count towards the grade point average. She has also promised a reduction in religion classes, although the timeline for this change remains unclear.
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Since December 2023, Barbara Nowacka has been working in close collaboration with the Minister of Sport, Slawomir Nitras, and the head of the Ministry of Health, Izabela Leszczyna. This unified effort is driven by a shared commitment to improving children's fitness and health. Together, they aim to introduce health education in schools, teaching young people about nutrition, exercise, and positive eating habits.
Barbara Nowacka and changes to physical fitness tests
Physical fitness tests were conducted for pupils in grades 4-8 of primary school and in all grades of general secondary schools, technical schools, and first-degree trade schools. On Tuesday, 11 June, Barbara Nowacka and SĆawomir Nitras were asked about studentsâ performance and results. In response, the Minister of Education announced forthcoming changes to the programme. She wants it to provide a realistic indication of the development of sporting competence in children rather than for sports clubs to "fish out talent."
"At the moment, we are gathering data. We know that around 75 per cent of schools have already submitted the results, but there is still time for other schools to submit theirs. We want to ensure that students and teachers identify areas for improvement and address them systematically," said Education Minister Barbara Nowacka.
"We have removed the talent search element from this programme. The purpose is to analyse the movement competencies of young people at school. We are very keen to diagnose what children can and cannot do. This should serve as a basic guideline for teachers on how to work with children. This is the aim of the programme," added Sports Minister SĆawomir Nitras.
Source: radiozet.pl