HK schools devote least time to PE compared with other countries as parents put focus on studies
Hong Kong schools are leading a global trend in reducing the time devoted to physical education, despite studies suggesting that children here could be among the most inactive in the world, researchers say.
Professor Amy Ha Sau-ching, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Sports Science and Physical Education Department, said the average time allocated for PE classes in Hong Kong schools each week was below the global average.
She was responding to the release of a study by University of Worcester in the UK which showed that worldwide primary school pupils spent an average of 105 minutes per week on PE while at secondary the average was 103 minutes, a decline from 2000.
Professor Ha said Hong Kong's primary and secondary students spent between 40 and 70 minutes on physical education each week, based on data given to the Education and Manpower Bureau by schools and teachers' feedback.
'Hong Kong is in fact leading this trend,' Professor Ha said. 'We have much less PE time than many other countries, not just in Europe but also in Asia. One of the underlying reasons is that schools and parents put academic [success] before the health of their children.' Professor Ha surveyed 2,400 Hong Kong students aged 10 to 16 on their exercise patterns and attitudes towards physical education, as part of a study conducted with an Australian university due to be released next month.