30 minutes a day for PE, urges Taskforce on Obesity [educationmatters.ie]
- Published: 13 May 2011
Speaking in the Dail, Education Minister Ruairí Quinn gave several reasons for dismissing as unfeasible the recommendation of the National Taskforce on Obesity that schools devote a minimum of 30 minutes a day to PE.
His reasons included:
- Length of school day;
- Pressure on time to cover other areas of curriculum adequately;
- Any changes to length of school day would require negotiation with the teacher unions;
- Lengthening of school day would require significant additional resources;
- Limitations to the numbers that can use games and sports facilities in schools at any one time;
- Just half an hour for lunch for primary school pupils who need to spend at least half that time eating.
