Sport in TVET
Physical activity is vital to the holistic development of young people, fostering their physical, social and emotional health. The benefits of sport reach beyond the impact on physical well-being and the value of the educational benefits of sport should not be under-estimated.
Many studies have shown the same result. For instance in a study from Germany (The Impact of Participation in Sports on Educational Attainment: New Evidence from Germany by Thomas Cornelißen and Christian Pfeifer), they conclude that participation of adolescents in sport activities has significant positive effects on educational attainment. According to their estimates, taking possible endogeneity of participation in sports into account makes the effect stronger. They also find evidence that the effect is generally larger for women than for men, especially if they participate in competitions. They conclude that the positive effects of sport activities should encourage politics to strengthen sport activities in school and out of school. Moreover, parents should be aware of these positive effects, i.e., they should encourage their children to get involved in sports.
In vocational schools, organised sport maybe less common, even we know that physical education serves the holistic development of learners.
Some have used sport to increase the appeal of vocational education programmes, strengthen civil society structures and teach life skills. These life skills aim to improve young people’s employability and show them how to resolve conflicts peacefully (giz).
In the Eur-Lex you can read that the essential in a knowledge-based economy is the role of education and training, and policy towards youth and sport. Factors supporting growth and employment by encouraging the emergence of a highly qualified and adaptable population, they also strengthen social cohesion and active citizenship.
The positive effects of sport activities should encourage school owners and organizations running TVET to strengthen sport activities for the students.