What did the grant scheme involve?

In 2022, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science introduced the Physical Education Boost and Innovation scheme, intended to support schools in meeting the mandatory standard of 90 minutes of physical education per week. Through this scheme, schools could appoint a process facilitator. This facilitator helped improve physical education (component A) and/or integrate more physical activity into the school programme (component B).

Process facilitators encourage more physical activity at school

The research shows that schools with a process facilitator were more likely to meet the physical education standard. More physical activity sessions were also added to the rest of the school day at these schools. The process facilitators played a key role, for example by helping to adjust timetables, find specialist teachers and incorporate additional physical activity into the school day. Most schools indicated that they found the process facilitator to be highly valuable in achieving their goals.

Obstacles to physical education remain

Despite the successes, there are still schools that do not meet the standard of ninety minutes. External factors often play a role, such as a full lesson timetable, a shortage of gym halls or sports facilities, and a lack of qualified physical education teachers. In addition, it can sometimes take a great deal of time to reach a suitable gym hall, which is beyond the control of the school and the process facilitator.

Cooperation as a solution, but ongoing support is necessary

Before the grant, many schools were already working with municipalities, community sports coaches, sports clubs and other schools. This was done, for example, by coordinating timetables to use gym halls more efficiently or by sharing specialist teachers. The efforts of the process facilitator strengthened existing partnerships and led to new ones. Although cooperation offers many benefits, it is a time-consuming process and does not always provide a structural solution to all bottlenecks. Schools are concerned about the future: without ongoing support, it is difficult to make physical activity a fixed part of the school day.

About the research

The research included 586 schools (180 schools that received grant A, 207 control schools and 199 schools that received grant B) and 79 process facilitators. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with eight schools that received grant A, seven schools that received grant B and five process facilitators.

Read the research here Evaluation of the Physical Education Boost and Innovation scheme