Abstract
M.Phil.
Against the background of the global interest in offering quality physical education and sport at school level, this study aims to determine how sport and physical activities are delivered in Swaziland schools with an applied focus on total and effective practices. The study highlights the importance of sport in human development and how it can contribute to an enabling school environment. It also outlines the roles played by various stakeholders in Swaziland school sport. The study reviewed the important areas of school sport management and delivery of organised physical activity at schools, while identifying good practice and highlighting challenges. For this descriptive survey, a stratified random sampling procedure was employed. Data were collected and triangulated using a mixed-method approach. A total of 68 head teachers, 66 sports teachers and 405 learners completed questionnaires, and two presidents and three secretaries of sports associations were interviewed. There were 80 participating schools, which is 10 per cent of the total schools in Swaziland. Participating schools were evenly distributed throughout the country as they were randomly stratified according to regions, location and school level.
Results indicated that all tiers of research participants (head teachers, sports teachers, and learners) are positive about an active lifestyle and are of the opinion that sport holds special value for learners. Fifty-nine per cent of the participating schools are affiliated to the Swaziland School Sports Association and participate in their activities, while only 21% of learners participate in organised sport activities at their respective schools. From the population of learners, only 23% of boys and 19% of girls participate in school sport, due to various limiting factors such as lack of facilities and relatively poor governance of school sport by the Swaziland School Sports Association, as evidenced in the absence of adequate leadership and strategic documentation on how to achieve envisaged targets. Strategic leadership and active engagement in school sport are also absent from the Ministry of Education and Training, while different international stakeholders such as the Australian Sports Commission and UNICEF offer sport for development programmes without a clear synergy between all the existing structures. Recommendations are made regarding the need for an active policy implementation and national leadership that should strive towards a professional adherence to a philosophy of a holistic development of the Swaziland youth.
Key words: School sport, governance, sports teacher, physical education, Swaziland.