Global leaders should incorporate sport and physical activity into education to increase chances of achieving universal education: new analysis by Education Above All and Save the Children

JANUARY 24, 2023:  A new analysis of research calls on global leaders to make sports a priority when it comes to education and ensure that all students are given equal access to both. The paper – entitled ‘A Winning Combination: Education and Sports’ is released by Education Above All’s Educate A Child programme, in partnership with Save the Children. Its findings will be announced at a virtual press briefing on Tuesday to mark International Day of Education 2023.

The paper, which is based on an analysis of data collected by leading organisations over the past two decades, finds a constant positive correlation between learning and sport.

Education Above All and Save the Children have said that this new research is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the complementarity of education and sports, at a historically challenging time with climate, health, and economic downturns severely impacting access to education especially in low-income, fragile countries with weak education systems.

Findings in the new analysis include:

• When school-based physical activity is purposely combined, the paper found evidence of better academic performance, improved school attendance and retention among school-aged children and adolescents.
• Physical activity and movement have been proven to positively impact brain development and learning, including in the earlier years of a child’s life.
• Students’ life skills, including collaboration, self-esteem, confidence and communication skills, improved when active play was used as a primary teaching tool to engage students and improve learning outcomes in Ethiopia, Jordan, Lebanon, Mozambique, the State of Palestine (occupied West Bank and Gaza) and Tanzania.
• Sports and group physical activities contribute to providing children and youth diagnosed with trauma and who are unable to settle into a traditional school setting, with a safe space for open dialogue.

While sports cannot be expected to be the catalyst for peace, learning programmes that purposefully combine education and sports have been shown to create conditions that foster peace and a safe, protected environment.

Lujain* is an 11-year-old from Syria who fled heavy bombardment with her family, eventually settling at a displacement camp. Lujain* attends a school in the camp supported by Save the Children. She said:

“In my spare time I play football. Whenever I have time, I go out and play football. There is someone who trains us on how to play football. Here, we play in the street; there is an empty place to play in, close to the camp. When I play football and I score goals, I feel very happy. In the future I would love to become a soccer player, or a doctor.”

Wilmer Salas is a Field Offcial working on an EAA’s programme, in partnership with a local NGO, that combines sports with education and is run at a community centre in Baranquilla, a city with elevated rates of violence in Colombia. He witnessed first-hand the transformative impact sports had on 12-year-old Kevin, within weeks of him joining the programme.

“When Kevin first arrived here, we saw an insecure child who was a bit violent with his classmates, a child who always answered rudely and was impatient and told me he didn’t care what I thought. Today, I find myself surprised by his behaviour, by the joy he feels as a result of feeling important, valuable, recognized, and loved,” explains Wilmer.

Speaking about the paper EAA Executive Programme Director Dr Mary Joy Pigozzi said: “Our analysis of this research confirms that integrating education and physical activity is a low-cost, high-impact strategy for improved learning. The imperative to implement these changes is even more important, as the clock ticks closer to 2030 and we keep on target to reach our Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG4, which promises to: ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.”

Sayyeda Salam, Director of Partnerships at Save The Children UK said:

“Many of the children we support through our programmes globally have been through unimaginable levels of stress. Conflict, displacement, climate shocks. This can affect a child’s learning abilities, which means the most marginalised children are most at risk of missing out on education and being left behind. This new report shows that it’s crucial to integrate physical play into learning and adopting a holistic approach that focuses on their social, physical and emotional well-being. We cannot sit back and watch as millions of children are robbed of the future they deserve. We must make sure children everywhere get a good-quality education.”

The release of this paper on International Day of Education is part of EAA and Save the Children’s work to ensure that every child has access to quality primary education, no matter the circumstance or condition. The analysis also provides further support to the importance of incorporating physical activity into learning, at a time when the global development community is engaged in a review to transform education for the realities and needs of the 21st century.

Media briefing:

‘A Winning Combination: Education and Sports’ will be discussed in detail at a 40-minute virtual event on 24 January at 1 pm GMT / 4 pm Doha local time, followed by a short Q&A session. Representatives of Education Above All’s Educate A Child programme and Save the Children will be available to speak about the findings and to answer any questions.

Video and photos:

Through its work in the field, Education Above All has incorporated physical play into learning to achieve results including projects in Colombia and India. You can find more information and visual assets below:

In Colombia, afterschool football programmes are helping to keep children in marginalised communities that are affected by violence and poverty in education. Interviews, images and information can be found here

In India, teachers are using a method which allows children to learn maths and biology through physical activity. Interviews, images and information can be found here

Save the Children works to protect the most deprived and marginalized children from violence in conflict, strengthen the resilience and protective environment for violence-affected boys and girls. In North West Syria, Save the Children works with partners that run Child Friendly Spaces and schools in displacement camps like the one where Lujain* lives, and where children can study, play sports and feel safe.

Lujain’s* story can be found here

Hanin’s story can be found here

Ammar’s story can be found here

About the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation:

The Education Above All (EAA) Foundation is a global foundation established in 2012 by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser. EAA aims to transform lives through education. We believe that education is the single most effective means of reducing poverty, creating peaceful and just societies, unlocking the full potential of every child and youth, and creating the right conditions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through our multi-sectoral approach, unique financing models, focus on innovation as a tool for social good, and partnerships, we aim to bringing hope and real opportunities to the lives of impoverished and marginalised boys and girls. EAA is comprised of: Educate A Child (EAC), Al Fakhoora, Reach Out To Asia (ROTA), Protect Education in Insecurity and Conflict (PEIC), and Innovation Development (ID). 

About Save the Children:

Save the Children is the world’s first and largest independent child rights organisation with 25,000 dedicated staff across 118 countries. Save the Children combines extensive programmatic experience in education with advocacy capacity to push for every child, particularly those most impacted by poverty and inequality, to participate in a safe, inclusive, and quality education. Save the Children principally focus on foundational literacy, numeracy, and social-emotional learning. In 2021, Save the Children worked across 80 countries reaching 12 million children directly through educational programming, including adaptive responses to COVID-19 school closures.

In 2020, we kicked off an initiative called Safe Back to School (SB2S) in response to Covid-19 and its detrimental impact on education, protection, health, and wellbeing – threatening development gains of recent decades. SB2S aims to harness SC’s organisational capacity and expertise to support the return of over 150 million of the most marginalised children safely back into learning through holistic programming, national-level advocacy, and support towards inter-agency coordination.