Play stimulates the imagination and is important for children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development and well-being. Children learn through play as they interact with others and the world around them. Schools in many marginalised communities in South Africa are often one of the only safe places where children can play in relative safety. However, many of these schools have limited resources and school grounds are often neglected and barren patches of ground. In addition, many ablution facilities found within these under-resourced schools are dismal: they are dark and dank, poorly designed with little or no ventilation, unkept and unclean, and end up being an indictment to the dignity of children.
It is against this background that the KaziPlay initiative was created with potential expansion to rural settings and areas under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on “Physical Activity and Health in Educational Settings’’ and in the context of two UNESCO programmes (i) Quality Physical Education (QPE) and (ii) Fit4Life (F4L). QPE differs from “normal” Physical Education. The main differences concern frequency, diversity, inclusivity and content values. Quality Physical Education is about peer learning and the development of comprehensive skills under ideal conditions that can improve educational and employability skills. It is also about wholebody health, which includes physical and psychosocial well-being. QPE supports students to develop the physical, social and emotional skills. It is a central component of UNESCO’s new sport programme, Fit4Life. The KaziPlay project activities presented here are supported by the Swiss Embassy in Pretoria (South Africa). It contributes to UNESCO’s SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages) and 4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all).
