Workshop for safeguarding children in sports
Mariselle Stofberg
The workshop gives teachers and coaches the necessary trainingBecoming champions of physical exercise to motivate and develop their pupils
With the rise of Covid-19 cases throughout the country, especially amongst learners and teachers, one of the issues touched on was the suspension of contact sports and the announcement of early winter holidays for learners.
Last month, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit’s (GIZ) Sports 4 Development in Africa regional project hosted a workshop at Heja Lodge under the theme GIZ Sport for Development in Africa (S4DA) which aimed to safeguard training for sport facilitators.
Education and sports officers from all 14 regions attended this event which focused on raising awareness on safeguarding sport and child protection, which will play a critical role in ensuring learners participate safely in sports activities.
Sports 4 Development and its stakeholders realised that all engagements and actions that occur around children when they participate in sports or activities need to be done in a nurturing and safe environment.
“All children participating in sport need to have a positive experience and this workshop kicks-off the training for facilitators and trainers to understand how they must guide and nurture children within a physically active environment. This is becoming increasingly important as the ministry of education, arts and culture (MoEAC) together with the ministry of sport, youth and national service are working together with GIZ to promote physical education and sports through their Integrated Physical Education and School Sports (IPESS) project,” said Titus Mwahafa regional programmes Africa advisor Sport 4 Development in Africa.
“Child protection and child safeguarding are often thought to be the same, but there is a clear distinction. Child safeguarding is about keeping all children safe from harm, abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. Having effective child safeguarding measures in place means that your organisation or club is proactively working internally and externally to ensure that children are kept safe, whereas ‘child protection’ is about keeping an individual child safe,” Mwahafa added.
He also said that the safeguarding of children is something that should have always been the main focus in sports and any physical activity, but it’s only now coming into focus. Aspects that are focused upon are in the workshop and generally to help create a safe sporting environment for children wherever they participate and at whatever level and to provide a benchmark to assist sports providers and funders to make informed decisions.
Other topics further included to promote good practice and challenge practice that is harmful to children and to provide clarity on safeguarding children to all involved in sport.
“The academic aspect is essential for children, but ‘remote learning’ and ‘online learning’ took care of that. What has been missing is games, playing, interaction, sports and teamwork. That is why the IPESS programme is being rolled out throughout Namibia, to more than 2000 schools in all 14 regions. Starting at primary level all the way through to secondary school,”Mwahafa added.
“It’s not just sports, it’s the interaction with other children and teenagers. Sports, physical exercise and games don’t just burn off surplus energy, they teach youngsters valuable life lessons. Lessons that they cannot learn in a classroom. That is why it is imperative that at all levels and all stakeholders ‘safeguard sports,” he said.
Annelize Von Francois from the MoEAC, who also participated, said the workshop was very productive. “It inspired me and will change the way I coach sports in all aspects. I would love more of these innovative safeguarding workshops to make everyone aware of the importance of safeguarding in sports.”
The workshop gives teachers and coaches the necessary training, manuals and become champions of physical exercise to motivate and develop their pupils whilst emphasising the need to safeguard children involved in physical activity.
The workshop gives teachers and coaches the necessary trainingBecoming champions of physical exercise to motivate and develop their pupils
With the rise of Covid-19 cases throughout the country, especially amongst learners and teachers, one of the issues touched on was the suspension of contact sports and the announcement of early winter holidays for learners.
Last month, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit’s (GIZ) Sports 4 Development in Africa regional project hosted a workshop at Heja Lodge under the theme GIZ Sport for Development in Africa (S4DA) which aimed to safeguard training for sport facilitators.
Education and sports officers from all 14 regions attended this event which focused on raising awareness on safeguarding sport and child protection, which will play a critical role in ensuring learners participate safely in sports activities.
Sports 4 Development and its stakeholders realised that all engagements and actions that occur around children when they participate in sports or activities need to be done in a nurturing and safe environment.
“All children participating in sport need to have a positive experience and this workshop kicks-off the training for facilitators and trainers to understand how they must guide and nurture children within a physically active environment. This is becoming increasingly important as the ministry of education, arts and culture (MoEAC) together with the ministry of sport, youth and national service are working together with GIZ to promote physical education and sports through their Integrated Physical Education and School Sports (IPESS) project,” said Titus Mwahafa regional programmes Africa advisor Sport 4 Development in Africa.
“Child protection and child safeguarding are often thought to be the same, but there is a clear distinction. Child safeguarding is about keeping all children safe from harm, abuse, violence, exploitation and neglect. Having effective child safeguarding measures in place means that your organisation or club is proactively working internally and externally to ensure that children are kept safe, whereas ‘child protection’ is about keeping an individual child safe,” Mwahafa added.
He also said that the safeguarding of children is something that should have always been the main focus in sports and any physical activity, but it’s only now coming into focus. Aspects that are focused upon are in the workshop and generally to help create a safe sporting environment for children wherever they participate and at whatever level and to provide a benchmark to assist sports providers and funders to make informed decisions.
Other topics further included to promote good practice and challenge practice that is harmful to children and to provide clarity on safeguarding children to all involved in sport.
“The academic aspect is essential for children, but ‘remote learning’ and ‘online learning’ took care of that. What has been missing is games, playing, interaction, sports and teamwork. That is why the IPESS programme is being rolled out throughout Namibia, to more than 2000 schools in all 14 regions. Starting at primary level all the way through to secondary school,”Mwahafa added.
“It’s not just sports, it’s the interaction with other children and teenagers. Sports, physical exercise and games don’t just burn off surplus energy, they teach youngsters valuable life lessons. Lessons that they cannot learn in a classroom. That is why it is imperative that at all levels and all stakeholders ‘safeguard sports,” he said.
Annelize Von Francois from the MoEAC, who also participated, said the workshop was very productive. “It inspired me and will change the way I coach sports in all aspects. I would love more of these innovative safeguarding workshops to make everyone aware of the importance of safeguarding in sports.”
The workshop gives teachers and coaches the necessary training, manuals and become champions of physical exercise to motivate and develop their pupils whilst emphasising the need to safeguard children involved in physical activity.
Kommentaar
Republikein
Geen kommentaar is op hierdie artikel gelaat nie