Sports activities in schools help learners boost their self-esteem, confidence and social skills. That’s according to the Head of Department at Katlego Primary School, SK Mabuza, who added that those who are not so academically strong find solace in sports.
The school, located in Daveyton in the East Rand, among various schools that have started hosting their interhouse sports events.
“Learners’ participation in sports also grants academically disadvantaged learners to discover, grow and embrace other talents they may have within the schooling space. This enables the learners to have a higher self-esteem and thus a positive attitude to begin their academic year,” Mabuza said.
Mabuza says that the school is hosting interhouse athletics during this time of the year because they believe it plays a paramount role in helping old and new learners to socially integrate into the school environment. He also mentioned that they plan to have a wider range of sport activities that learners can participate in, but the lack of necessary sports equipment and facilities hinders them from accomplishing that.
“We currently utilise open community grounds outside of school premises for our sports activities and this compromises the safety and security of our learners,” Mabuza said. “Learners don’t have sufficient sports kit for them to be able to participate in numbers and to represent the school in other places. Sports becomes restricted to interhouse and also for a short period of time as a result of these challenges,” he added
A Grade 4 learner from the school, Zimkhitha Mathabela, says she loves her school because of the fun sports they get to do. She participated in athletics in her age group and she was number one.