Sport at the service of health and STEM education

Project supported by Physically Active Youth

Physically Active Youth has been introduced as a research project on development by MD Donovan Zealand to reduce school dropouts and it also aims at getting the young off the streets thanks to sport.

The project aims at using the power of sport to reinforce street children's resilience and at introducing them to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education along with a solid curriculum of daily life skills. The curriculum is essentially about sexual reproductive health, leadership and environmental awareness.

Context

According to the 2018 survey on labour carried out in Namibia, the unemployment rate for youngsters aged 15 to 34 increased from 43.4 % in 2016 to 46.1 % in the last months of 2017 and that of people aged 19 to 34 rose to 44%. The survey also revealed that out of the 854,567 youths under 34, 71 % had completed their secondary and primary studies, whereas 35 % had not done any formal studies. This situation reveals a discrepancy between the youngsters’ qualifications and the offers in the labour market, causing them to do unhealthy activities such as using psychoactive substances, crime etc.

In this respect, PAY has opted for approaching education in this very way, making it holistic, interactive, geared towards youngsters’ well-being and resilience.

Objectives

Providing the young with quality academic support by using STEM syllabi, art, daily life skills and sport
Reinforcing youngsters’ resilience and developing the skills associated with sexual and reproductive health, leadership and environmental awareness
Enhancing employability and skill sharing by staging community development workshops, career paths for the young and innovative entrepreneurship workshops
Reducing the inequality gap by offering a holistic quality curriculum to youngsters in marginalised communities
Encouraging creativeness, empathy, cognitive reasoning and basic skills
Reinforcing and improving sporting facilities and offering sports programmes, daily life and science skills to Katutura’s youngsters for 18 months as from February 2021

Activities

Life skill building sessions that promote self-worth and altruism, teach equality, foster holistic well-being and favour environmental sustainability
Awareness workshops essentially centred on sexual reproductive health, the use of psychoactive substances, and transmissible diseases
Introducing and training the young into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education.
Organising various sporting activities (cycling, swimming, football, gymnastics, karate) and introduction to chess to teach such vital skills as teamwork, discipline, concentration, fair play and sportsmanship
Organising football tournaments with 6 participating teams, 3 female teams and 3 male teams, in the informal village of Babylone

Impacts

120 learners in Katutura shall be benefiting sports programmes, daily life and science skills for 18 months as from February 2021
2 new satellite centres shall be set up in Otjomuise and in the informal settlements in Okahandja Park to reach 175 boys and girls by May 2021
15 volunteer coaches shall be hired and trained to teach the young football, coding and survival sessions in the satellite centres as from May 2021