Physical education is important

Do you think that physical education is important?

The value of physical education has been realized since the earliest times of human existence. The Greeks and the Romans considered it indispensable to the development of a good personality and character.

Today in all the schools and universities in the world, a great deal emphasis is being placed on physical education as a means of producing citizens of good character and personality.

Physical education develops the muscles of the body scientifically and increases muscular activity and physical strength. All this makes the body active and efficient. It is now also realized that there is a close connection between the body and the mind. Therefore, if the body is active, the mind too is active. Proof of this can be easily found among children. Children who are inactive physically are usually also mentally lazy. An active and efficient body is a healthy body. When the body is healthy, the mind too is and therefore happy. Thus, physical education contributes greatly to the health and happiness of an individual such an individual could do a great deal for the good of society.

Physical education can also contribute to the strength of a nation. If the youths of a country receive proper physical education, they can build up a strong country to protect itself from foreign attacks or invasions.

Further, physical education provides opportunities for contacts with people of other lands. Athletes of all countries meet at various countries at various times to compete with one another and thus promote common understanding among countries for the benefit of one another.

It is therefore, not without reason that physical education has been a part and parcel of academic pursuit today. I do therefore agree that physical education is important to all people.

School leavers should get some working experience before going for further studies

Do you think school leavers should get some working experience before going for further studies?

It would certainly a good thing if school leavers get some working experience before going for further studies. One reason is that they get a taste of what work is and thus are in a better position to know what they want to study further.

As it is, the smarter students get channeled directly into universities and colleges the moment they finish school. Most, if not all, of them do not know what the real working world is like. When they finish their studies they are plunged into the competitive work market often without a hint of what it is like. So they have to learn very quickly how to cope with the sudden change. The luckier ones get jobs they like. Many get stuck in jobs they have no inclination for and only keep at the jobs because they do not know what else they can do.

This causes job dissatisfaction. The results are unhappy workers in unhappy companies.

However, if school leavers were to get a taste of working life first, they will soon have a pretty good idea of what it is. They will have probably discovered too what sort of jobs they prefer to do. With this precious knowledge, they will then know what courses to take up to ensure they secure the right jobs on graduation.

Most of my teachers are those who went straight to university or college on finishing school. They have virtually no experience of life outside school. So when they return to school to teach, they are ill-equipped to teach the children what it is like outside the school. Some teachers who had had to work outside before becoming a teacher have far better knowledge of the outside world. The difference is obvious. I am in no way saying that the former are inferior teachers. It is just that they would be better ones if they have had outside experience.

As for my self, the moment I leave school, I am going to get myself a job. It does not matter what job it is or for how long I will have it. I only want the experience of working. Only by involving myself fully in the working world will I know what it is like and how to cope with it. Even if it is for a few months, by that time, I will have a fairly good idea ò working life. Thus I will be in a good position to decide what I will like to do in the future. I will not be a confused jobseeker nor an unhappy employee.