HC Deb 01 November 1994 vol 248 c1105W
Sir Anthony Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps she intends to take to ensure that all children aged between five and 16 years play competitive sports in schools.

Mr. Robin Squire

Competitive sports are an important part of a balanced physical education curriculum. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education has announced that she will be accepting in full Sir Ron Dearing's recommendations on the new national curriculum. The new curriculum for physical education, which will be published shortly, will require all children aged five to 16 to pursue competitive games—starting with learning the skills of competitive games, right through to playing the full recognised version of a competitive game.