Councils 'failing' on PE targets

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Only one local authority in Scotland is meeting Scottish Executive requirements to provide two hours of physical education to school children a week.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that East Renfrewshire was the only council to offer all its pupils the provision.

The news comes three years after an action plan to help tackle the problem of childhood obesity.

The local authority was one of 23 who responded to the study.

Statistics showed that at present primary school pupils were receiving on average about 70 minutes a week of PE while those in secondary school got 100 minutes.

Fitness hopes

The figures came to light following a request by The Scotsman newspaper.

The issue has caused concern for ministers who found that only 5% of primary pupils and 7% of secondary pupils in 2004-05 were meeting the target.

The target of ensuring every child receives at least two hours a week of PE was set by the Scottish Executive in 2004 as part of a special action plan.

The blueprint was part of a wider effort by ministers to improve diet and exercise in youngsters and help tackle obesity. That also included the recruitment of an additional 400 teachers to take PE classes.

To date, an extra 160 PE teacher for primary schools have been hired while an additional 113 have joined the ranks of those taking the subject in secondary schools.