An attempt to encourage the Polish students to exercise, or a blatant invasion of privacy? The Polish government intends to pass a proposal that would require schools to perform fitness tests every year for students starting at the age of 10, in order to monitor their physical condition and fitness.
The bill comes after a survey carried out by the European Commission last year showed dismal results according to which only 2 percent of Polish residents said that “they exercise regularly”, the lowest figure of all EU countries.
The fitness tests that will be held for students every year are supposed to include running a distance of 5 meters for 10 times in a row, running a distance of 20 meters back and forth, testing how long a student can hold in the position of “lying down on a blanket” and long jump.
The students’ performance data will be kept in a special database to which the government offices will have access, and they will be analyzed by the National Sports Institute. The Polish government claims that this is a necessary step in order to improve the physical condition of the students in Poland, and will also make it possible to create targeted actions in the field of physical education for specific groups of students.
However, the new proposal also arouses opposition among many in Poland, who claim that it is an invasion of the students’ privacy due to the fact that their physical data and physical fitness will be exposed, and will also cause unhealthy competition between students.
“In my opinion, this is a sick idea. It will be stressful, and it will lead to a situation where children will try to avoid physical education classes. This will be an unhealthy competition, which will cause a decrease in the children’s motivation to take part in physical activity,” said Marcin Jozepaciuk, deputy head of a school in the city of Lodz.