Trevlyn

Dear Hon. Minister @GaytonMcK When I was growing up, PT was a compulsory lesson in primary school. At some point, PT became PE- don't ask me why, but with that change in name, it became less of a fun interruption to the mundane curriculum to being non-existent by the time I got to standard 5/ grade 7 for the born-frees. As a young Black kid who grew up in Chiawelo and went to private and model-c schools, I would never have known how much I weigh or how tall I was. I also would have never known how fast I am and how strong I am in comparison to my peers. I have conducted a very rudimentary search of the South African Schools Act and I don't see any obligation on the State or schools to provide sports as part of the curriculum. Bayanda Walaza deservedly won a silver medal at the Paris Olympics and I wonder what impact his private schooling had towards his achievement. We need to bring back sports into our schools, and if it means passing legislation to do so, then I think that this policy change should be a priority for your Department. South Africans are ready to see more sporting success, but we can't realistically expect this when the public schooling system is not geared to make this a reality.