The closing ceremony of the 2022 National Higher Education and Technical High School Student Sports Competition at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) on June 29. CHORN NORN
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport is encouraging all high school and higher education institutions (HEIs) to participate in physical education and sports programme development, saying that physical education and sports are regarded as important components of a well-rounded educational curriculum and highly beneficial to the health of students.
At the closing ceremony of the 2022 National Higher Education and Technical High School Student Sports Competition at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) on June 30, the ministry’s deputy secretary-general Bou Chum Serey spoke about the importance of physical fitness and athletic competition for the Kingdom's students.
"This university-level sports competition motivates our young men and women to maintain their physical fitness while building character through teamwork and sportsmanship, which will help ready them to become good citizens capable of supporting or defending their homeland in the future," he said.
Serey then delivered a message on behalf of the education minister Hang Chuon Naron, who was also in attendance at the opening ceremony of the competition that day.
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"I would like to send a message to all representatives of educational institutions: Please pay close attention to the development of physical education and sporting activities during and after school hours at your institutions, because physical education and sports are an important component of the education sector," he said.
Serey noted that physical education and sports are regarded as one of the five components of education, with the other forms being intellectual, moral, health, vocational and aesthetic educations.
"Physical education and sports are very vital for both higher education and at the high school level. We may have a degree in a technical or scientific area of expertise, or attain Master's or doctorates and we even have good moral character, but if our health is not strong enough, then we won't be a useful resource for building the nation.
"Therefore the implementation of physical education and sporting activities during and after school hours plays a vital role in building the nation's human resources," he said.
This year, there were competitions in 12 different sports with the participation of 38 HEIs and high schools, a noticeable increase compared to just over 20 previously.
However, Serey stressed that this number was still too low.
"Currently, we are facing some challenges because in our country there are more than 100 public and private HEIs and technical high schools, so the participation in physical education and sports activities is still nowhere near where it could be.
"I call on the leadership of all educational institutions to participate in the development of physical education and sports by establishing sports associations in their institutions and help generate a favourable environment for athletic training activities both during and after school hours so that their schools can participate in these competitions," Serey added.
