More attention will be paid to physical education and students' health under comprehensive curriculum reform to be carried out soon by the Ministry of Education, officials said at a Beijing news conference on Thursday.
Zheng Fuzhi, director of a basic-education department at the ministry, said PE is a very important part of education, which had not been taken seriously in China and as a result had been quite weak.
"We are now working on a plan that will make students' health and their performance in physical education part of the criteria in the evaluation and admission of students in China's senior high school and college entrance exams," Zheng said.
Wang Dengfeng, director of the ministry's department of physical, health and arts education, said student health and their PE performance will also help in assessing school management and principals' work.
Wang said one of the reform goals for PE classes is to enable schools nationwide to provide students with diversified sports to meet their different needs, which are usually based on their personal interests or health.
"Currently, very few schools — only about 1 to 3 percent — in China can reach this level," Wang said, adding that in contrast about 10 percent of schools, especially those in remote areas where education lags behind the average national level, still don’t have full-time PE teachers.
Wang said the ministry will integrate resources nationwide and improve the situation at all schools.
"One step we will take is to stage more soccer matches between schools," he said. "We have spread the soccer curriculum and games to about 5,000 schools across the country and we hope to go further to ensure that there is a soccer team in each class and there is a match each week for students to take part in."
Wang and his colleagues are also considering introducing martial arts to schools' PE classes and are deciding which sports are more suitable for students of a certain age.
Zheng said, "We will start drafting the new curriculum standard in May, and it will be announced and put into practice in 2016."
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