Launched on June 24, the “11 for Health in Pakistan” project is rolling out an 11-week course at several schools simultaneously. To ensure students engage in moderate to high-intensity physical activities twice a week, the courses are scheduled on either Monday and Thursday, Tuesday and Friday, or Wednesday and Saturday, maintaining a minimum two-day gap between each training session.
Prior to the nationwide Eid al-Adha holiday in Pakistan, a one-week trial operation of the football course was conducted. The project team undertook thorough investigations and evaluations covering various aspects such as project coordination, facilities and equipment, coach allocation for the courses, course structure, and the specific needs of students and parents. This trial period seeks to identify and address potential challenges in the course operation, ensuring the project progresses smoothly and meets the expectations of all stakeholders involved.
The coaching manual adopted in this project is consistent with the “11 for Health” projects in Denmark and the United States. However, given that many students have limited exposure to professionally guided physical activities, the coaching team has decided to extend the warm-up session before the activity and include stretching post-activity in the course structure. As a result, the total duration of each session has been extended from 45 minutes to 60 minutes.
11 for Health in Pakistan, an innovative initiative and exploration of future physical education programs in Pakistan, aims to foster health education through football training. It motivates students to enjoy small-sided football games while gaining health knowledge. We look forward to seeing the positive impact of this project and hope it can be promoted in more schools and regions in the future.
This is really a different innovative idea to promote physical activities in the schools and motivation for children. I strongly recommend these activities for children in all schools. Nowadays children are very close to screens and limited physical activities which overall effect their brain efficiency, they are more lazy, in longer run they will become dull and inactive. So I request the authorities to add such courses on regular basis in the curriculum and co-curriculum activities.