Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education Launches Student Health and Fitness Recovery Project

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education is operating various programs through a health and fitness recovery project to help students whose physical strength has declined due to COVID-19.

According to the Office of Education on the 13th, the student health and fitness recovery project is largely composed of three parts. It supports students' healthy school life through the operation of integrated school sports clubs, sports camps where school athletic team students and general students participate together, and face-to-face support for on-campus sports competitions.

The Office of Education plans to expand the existing excellent school sports clubs into an integrated school sports club program covering four fields, with a total of 275 clubs and about 13,000 students participating. It is a well-structured program conducted using spare time before school, during lunch breaks, and after school.

The sports camp program utilizes days without training for school athletic teams, where school athletic team students teach general students. Over 20 school athletic teams have applied to participate, and it is expected to be a good opportunity to discover outstanding athletes and improve health and fitness.

Additionally, the Office of Education plans to actively support the resumption of face-to-face on-campus sports competitions, which have been missed for two years due to COVID-19.

Clubs participating in the integrated school sports clubs are granted eligibility to participate in the Superintendent's Cup Sports Club competition. Teams selected as representatives through this will have the opportunity to participate as city representatives in national competitions.

Lee Byung-kwan, Director of the Physical Education and Arts Convergence Education Division, said, “We hope this program will serve as a catalyst for revitalizing school sports, which have been subdued due to COVID-19, and for recovering students' diminished health and fitness.” He added, “We will continue to strive to create an environment and offer various sports so that more students can participate in the future.”