“It is time to give back to the EPS the place it deserves in the timetable of the pupils”

“Is there a more precious good for man than health? »Socrates already asked the V^e century BC. While the studies devoted to the state of health of young people follow one another and do not cease to note the increase in cases of diabetes among adolescents, the decline in their physical abilities, the increase in overweight and obesity, the increased time spent in front of screens (study conducted by the collective “Pour une France en forme”, 2023), the Ministry of National Education is deploying a “French team of 30 minutes”a device intended to reinforce the “30 minutes of daily physical activity” program, launched in 2020 as part of the Paris 2024 legacy measures.

And yet, the number of positions in the competition for the recruitment of teachers of the discipline has again been revised downwards for this year 2023, from 680 external capeps positions in 2022 to 670 in 2023; the hours allocated to discipline are always four hours per week in 6^ethen three hours of the 5^e at the 3^e, and are only two hours away in high school. Insufficient to work in favor of a health education of the pupils which is total.

So is it about “new sham measures” when we know that the European Union (EU) has set itself new objectives in terms of education and training for 2030, including that of supporting students towards “quality physical education” (directives to for decision-makers, Unesco, 2015).

EPS a time of desires to do

Yes, faced with the increased vulnerability of young people, it is indeed the accompaniment of pupils towards “quality physical education” which must be a priority issue for the school, but an issue to which the ministerial policies must confer much more means by revaluing the only physical discipline at school: physical education.

The EPS and the sports association are for many students from working-class backgrounds, the only place where they can indulge in physical activity, access an artistic culture, or experience collective emotions. Because the social sharing of emotions and a serene school climate in which students feel emotionally secure are also sources of pleasure and therefore of commitment that is destined to last.

The EPS is the place where students can dare, test themselves, experiment, experience, carry out artistic and sports projects, so many learning experiences that should make them want to continue to have a subsequent physical practice.

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