Education Through Sport

Sport can play a significant role in young people’s personal and social development and is a great way to re-engage those at the margins of the education system.

Sport has been shown to be a powerful catalyst in re-engaging young people in education and
so keeping people in school longer with the consequence of improved employment opportunities and reduced incidence of antisocial
and criminal behaviour of those who drop-out of full-time education early.

Benefits:

Improved academic attainment in key skills such as numeracy and literacy
More youths stay in education so affording them better employment opportunities
A decrease in the incidence of drug-taking, HIV/AIDS and anti-social behaviour. prevalent in school drops outs and the unemployed
Community safety benefits in terms of a reduction in criminal activity.
Health benefits through an increase in positive physical activity amongst young people providing a greater incentive for eating a healthy diet and refraining from taking alcohol or drugs.
A reduction in truancy and improvements in behaviour and educational attainment

Policy recommendations:

A Priority for Education Departments: ensure that Government education departments understand the impact sport can have in raising standards in schools, and build it into the Curriculum
Be flexible in the approach to Schools: allow schools to fit sports programmes around their own needs and circumstances, and share best practice
Engage the Students directly: build direct involvement in sport to re-engage the disaffected, build self esteem and motivate them to achieve
Deliver Role Models: use sports stars within schools to motivate and inspire and act as mentors.

Education Through Sport

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