Teachers at ‘Multi’ School appeals for structured sports programme

Feb 11, 2009 Sports

By Michael Benjamin

The once immaculately pruned playfield aback the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School is now akin to a jungle in the heart of the city.

A closer examination reveals that the structured sports programme that once comprised a part of the school’s curriculum is now a sad memory.

Kirwyn Mars

It seems painfully obvious that sports, once an integral aspect of school life, is relegated to the back burner, even as our administrators and politicians spout empty rhetoric about the viability of sports in the lives of our youths.

Kirwyn Mars is a Senior Master at the school in question. He is also the Chairman of the South Georgetown Branch. Mars is making an impassioned plea to the Ministry of Education to appoint a Physical Education instructor to hone the skills of the children attending the Multilateral School.

He also hopes that government officials consider the other schools that fall within the South Georgetown zone.

Mars feels that such an appointment could minimize the high incidence of delinquency among schoolchildren even as these very children engage in activities that may have lifetime benefits.

He pointed out that there are some 42 schools within the South Georgetown jurisdiction.

Thirteen of these schools are Primary while another 13 fall within the Secondary framework. The remaining 16 schools are Nurseries.

Mars said that the children at the Primary level are introduced to novelty events that continue up to the Primary level.

He said that the problem starts after the students would have graduated to the Secondary level. It is here that they are in dire need of a specialist physical education teacher.

He attempted to address this problem and requisitioned the Ministry of Education for a physical education teacher.

To date he has receive no response from the government institution. “So naturally we were forced to strike the subject off of the curriculum,” Mars said. He feels that the absence of a structured sports programme is contributing to the lax behaviour of some of the children.

“You cannot blame the children who opt to do bad things because they do not have a wholesome outlet to expend their energies,” the senior master lamented.

Mars said that any member of staff could arrange a football or cricket match.

However, he posits that the situation is far more complex. “Physical Education is not about running aimlessly from one end of a field to another,” he said.

“The subject is more complex; it is about science; it is about nutrition; it is about physiology,” he expounded.

Mars also feels that the subject ought to form an integral part of the curriculum at the Cyril Potter College of Education.

He said that those teachers desirous of pursuing this area of studies should be able to do so as a core subject.

Mars said that he recently heard that the Ministry of Education has employed a specialist to address the issue.

He said that he was also told that the person is in the process of formulating a physical education programme for the schools. He said that he is not certain if his informant is correct. He is also unable to say just how much work has been done. A check with the Ministry of Education could not verify the accuracy of this information.

However, we were told that a gentleman by the name of Fraser at the Allied Arts might be able to confirm this. He was unavailable.

Meanwhile, Mars confirmed that the Multilateral School, that has produced such sports stalwarts the likes boxer, Daurius Forde and West Indies batting star, Ramnaresh Sarwan, is still in the business of producing sports stars.

Presently, Ambrose Thomas, a table-tennis player of some repute, attends the school. She has represented this country in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the Dominican Republic.

She was also a part of the squad that traveled to Pune, India to participate in the recently concluded Commonwealth Youth Games.

Another sports stalwart, Orlando Van Rossum, the youngest Taekwondo black belt champion, is currently a pupil at ‘Multi.’

The North Ruimveldt Multilateral School has churned out more than its fair share of national sports personalities.

Despite this reality, the absence of a games master to impart knowledge to the students that attend this school continues to compromise the development of young people.

Mars is adamant that unless the Ministry of Education addresses this issue with urgency, the students of his institution will continue to engage in adverse extra-curricular activity. He is appealing for action now.