The government has today announced a reversal of its decision to replace GCSEs with a new E-bacc qualification for ‘core’ subject areas like maths and English.
The decision has been welcomed by the Sport and Recreation Alliance, which actively opposed the new two-tiered system – fearing that it would undermine the importance of PE as well as creative subjects like dance.
Tim Lamb, chief executive of the Sport and Recreation Alliance said:
“This is a decision the Department for Education has got exactly right. The exclusion of PE and creative subjects like dance from the new E-bacc system would have only compounded the worrying decline in the number of teenagers studying PE at Key Stage 4 and beyond.
“The nation is facing an obesity crisis and the government also has a responsibility to deliver on its Olympic promise to inspire a nation of young people to be more active.
"To sideline PE and other subjects would have sent out the wrong signal.
“We now look to see how this decision fits in with the government’s wider school sport plans, set to be announced in the coming fortnight.
"Those plans will have a huge effect on the health and physical activity of our future generations.”
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