Values Based Physical Education and National Development Goals in the South African Public School System

The first South African full democratic elections in 1994 saw the African National Congress (ANC) come into power with a focus on addressing historical inequalities.  Whilst almost all South Africans now have access to free basic education, not all have access to quality Physical Education or can participate in school sport which is often competitive and provided for the talented only.  Many public schools are now dependent on parental contributions or external agencies to deliver physical education which until recently sat as an element of the life skills and life orientation curriculums.  The demise of physical education as a stand-alone specialist subject, the access to quality teacher training has declined over a number of decades to a point where many educators do not have sufficient and adequate knowledge to conduct quality lessons.  This is juxtapose to the rhetoric from ministries and agencies at national and international level on how sport can be and is used for sustainable development.
The presentation looks at the initial analysis from data collected from educators, coaches and volunteers working within schools and seeks to offer one example of how values based education can contribute in marrying PE, School Sport with national development objectives.