ACCORDING to a new report, part of the SLÁN survey, which tracks the nation’s lifestyle and habits over the years, we live in a country in which two out of every three adults are overweight, while one in every four are obese.
The knock-on effect of this is that, in the not-too-distant-future it will cost the health service billions of euros to treat health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease, that arise as a direct result of obesity.
It is in this environment that the present Minister of Education has decided, in order to make some budget cuts, to remove substitution cover for teachers in post primary schools.
Though in recent days, O’Keefe has made significant amendments to his original Budget plans, as he reversed the suspension of substitution cover for uncertified sick leave.
Before I go any further, I must state that I have a vested interest in this topic as I am a second level teacher who is very involved with sport within the school system.
In essence, what this proposed cutback will mean is that teach-ers who train school sports teams will not be able to leave the classrooms to go with their teams to participate in inter-school competitions because there will be no one to cover their classes in there absence.
This will have a very negative effect in the educational development of all students. As a teacher, I have a view that education is much more than what goes on in the classroom teaching.
I believe that extra-curricular activities, such as sport of all types, drama, music, debating, cultural outings, etc. play a major role in the development of students.
These activities help them to develop socially, emotionally and physically, which is vital in order that each student will realise their full potential.
As someone who is very involved in the extra curricular life of a school, I see the benefits of these activities to the life and development of the students.
Some students may not excel in the academic side of the classroom, yet they may be very talented on the stage or on the sports field.
From now on, are these teenagers to be deprived of an expression or a passion through which they could develop or improve themselves?
I got involved in education because I saw the major role in which extra curricular activities played in the educational development of our youth.
By proposing to introduce such cut backs, it interferes totally with students’ educational development and puts all the educational progress, that has been made over the years, back light years.
These budget cutbacks will have major implications for sporting organisations, particularly in the GAA for generations.
Teachers in schools have sown the seeds of a love for gaelic games within their students. If teachers cannot take their students to participate in games with other schools and have their classes covered, then that spells the end of school sport as we know it.
I am glad to see that the GAA are not willing to stand idly by. According to GAA Director General, Padraic Duffy, "it is absolutely huge for the GAA. We are not going to take to the streets, but we will lobby politicians and speak to the government that implementing this across the board is not the right thing to do."
According to former Cork hurling trainer, Donal O’Grady, who is a school principal, "the GAA may be forced to flood secondary schools with coaches in order to influence the impending vacuum."
This suggestion is not as easy as it sounds, in the view of the way schools are structured and regimented. It is not a question of throwing money at the problem.
It certainly looks like that, after Christmas the role of extra curricular activities in the education of our youth will certain-ly be curtailed. I believe that this issue is far greater than mere cutbacks by our Minister for Education.
I think that arising out of this there is a need for a wider debate on what we mean by education and what we want from education for our children?
There is no need to debate the role of sport in education and the role of sport in society. Especially, in the view of the fact that Dr Niall Moyna, of DCU, published the result of some research carried out on 6,000 Irish boys and girls, all between the age of 15 and 17 years. It indicated that on average 18 per cent of them were overweight and five per cent of them were clinically obese.
We have to ask - is introducing these cutbacks the best way to address these problems?
