Stephen Morgan MP has called on the government to avoid “taking it’s eye off the ball” when it comes to Portsmouth children’s physical education amidst growing concerns about children wellbeing.
The City MP who is also Labour’s Shadow Minister for Schools made the comments during a visit to a school sports day during National School Sports Week.
Mr Morgan visited the school alongside the Youth Sport Trust, as well as former England rugby star James Haskell and Great Britain and Jamaica swimmer Michael Gunning.
Mr Morgan called on the government to back Labour’s plans to boost the number of PE hours taught in school to boost children’s physical and mental health.
Official figures show that the share of school hours spent on PE has suffered from a slow and steady decline since 2013, from 8.4% of school time to 7.7% in 2021.
Figures released through parliament have also shown that the number of PE teachers is down from 26,005 in 2011 to 23,513 in 2020.
A Labour Government would boost the number of PE hours taught by hiring 6,500 more teachers and reforming the Government’s narrow progress measures that can lead to physical education being cut out of the curriculum.
Following the school sports day visit, City MP Stephen Morgan said:
“Young people face so many challenges to their physical and mental health, and providing opportunities to be active is a great way to empower them to live happier and healthier lives.
“Despite this, the government has taken its eye off the ball on this issue with the number of PE hours taught and PE teachers both significantly falling in recent years.
“It has therefore never been more important that we ensure that all children across the country receive high quality physical education in school and access to high quality sporting opportunities outside of the classroom as well.”
Mr Morgan’s party would also capitalise on the momentum behind women’s sport following the Lionesses’ inspiring Euros victory, and introduce an equal access guarantee for school sport so that boys and girls have access to the same sports at school, rather than ‘comparable sporting activities’ which reinforce traditional access barriers for girls and women.
