The Main Objective of Sports Lessons in Schools is Not to Train Skills

The main objective of sports lessons in schools is not to train skills. This statement is based on the fact that all students are required to take sports lessons while the skills in sports contain elements of talent and physical abilities.

Providing specific sports skills training for people who are oriented to professional athletes. Public schools have groups of students with varied physical conditions, abilities, and interests. So schools cannot require sports lessons for all students to make them skilled.

The scoring system conducted in schools for sports lessons is interesting to be re-observed. Students who cannot swim can replace their grades with theoretical assignments; students who cannot hit the ball with baseball sticks get fewer marks while sports skills are not included in the student's obligations; as well as female students who cannot / do not like playing football, they can change their value through theoretical assignments.

The assessment given to students for the ability to exercise becomes ambiguous. If in practice, the teacher asks a group of children for a sprint, the teacher will only get 1-5 winners; then what is the fate of students who can't run fast?

The question arises whether sports lessons are still relevant to education at school? Why are sports lessons required and what are their functions?

Judging from the programs and materials of sports lessons at school, sports lessons also do not appear to be used as a health program. Schools only provide a short and limited time for sports lessons, which is around 2-3 hours a week. In a limited time according to health measures, schools provide lessons in the form of theory and practice.

Sports lessons are also often inserted between other subject schedules. It often happens that students must return to sit in class doing science-social studies questions with conditions of fatigue and sweating after taking sports lessons.

So it is assessed from the aspect of the subject matter, the assessment system and the use of time, the most logical goal of the school is to provide general knowledge related to the world of sports.

Schools provide extracurricular paths for talented students in a sport. This shows that the school is aware of differences in students' abilities and interests in the field of sports. It is hoped that schools can reconsider aspects of sports subjects.

Schools should only provide knowledge in the form of theories of sports, history, figures, sports institutions, regulations and so on. While the material for sports practice is only a means provided by schools so that students can just try to do sports.

Students practice the theory of sports to make it easier for them to understand a game of sports, not to provide a professional path by giving an assessment of skills.

The benefits of sports lessons as educational material in schools have not been seen in the reality of community life. The real example is that there are still many schoolchildren in this era who don't know about sports heroes of old and heroic work.

For example, schoolchildren today rarely know about Rudi Hartono, an Indonesian badminton athlete who holds the record for victory in the All England event for eight times in a row, there are no athletes who can break the record. There are rarely students who know that Alan Budi Kusuma and Susi Susanti are couples of athletes who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the feather-sporting arena.

Many schoolchildren today also don't know about the history of athletic sports from Greece. They also did not know about the origin of the word "athlete" itself.

Insights on technical matters that are general knowledge are also important to be given to students in school. For example knowledge about why chess and Moto GP games are said to be sports; why Rio Haryanto cannot compete again at the International F1 event; etc.

Sports lessons at school can be used as a mental revolution tool that is part of the formation of student character. Principles in sports are very good to apply to students. Sports teachers can apply discipline, sportsmanship, attitude ready to be winners and ready to admit defeat, ready to cooperate with the team, unyielding nature, and humility.

Educational institutions still have to reconsider aspects of sports lessons at school. Where is the direction of sports lessons in school? This is important to be examined again as a form of improving the quality of education in schools.