Very early into the State of Emergency and the national lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic, the Ministry of Education began producing school lessons for pre and primary school students. It was to tide them and their parents over with some learning aids for homeschooling since it was known pretty early that many hours of classroom contact would be lost to the need for social and physical distancing.
Well, very soon, the National Sports Council will start to broadcast a program for workout and physical education. The NSC is concerned that the nation's children, and their parents, are not getting enough physical activity while being trapped at home. So, they've begun producing intuitive sessions featuring some of Belize's well-known athletes and local fitness experts.
The council was preparing one of their first episodes for this show today, and they invited the press to learn more about the initiative. We stopped by and Director Ian Jones explained and why he hopes parents will join their children in being a little healthier during the State of Emergency:
Ian Jones - Director, National Sports Council
"Ever since the closure of the primary schools, all of our kids have been at home. For the most part, they've not been active. We've been under a full lockdown for most of this time, and even in the SI's passed, you weren't allowed to exercise or workout beyond a certain time. After watching - I actually got the idea from watching DJ Dalla's virtual segment that he did, and I said, you know that's a really good idea, really thinking outside the box. So, I got along with my head sports coordinators and I said, why don't we do something like this for PE? Why don't we do this and create a virtual PE segment that kids would be able to follow, and parents, as well, will be able to participate along with their kids. The idea is to stay healthy; stay fit. In this entire COVID-19 pandemic, one of the best weapons you have is to have a healthy immune system. Being at home, not staying active, would really cause - most people, we're in lockdown. Including myself, you pick up a little weight. You get a little chubby. All of that was behind the thinking of it. So, we are bringing in known Belizean athletes. They were ready and willing to participate in it."
"Currently, we will have this show air on Tuesday and Thursdays at 6 a.m., and at 3:30 p.m. on Wave TV, Channel 7, and on our Facebook page. I still have to touch base with Channel 5 to see how we could get it aired on Channel 5 as well. I believe that it is a really good initiative, and it will allow parents to actually participate along with their kids."
The lessons will periodically include healthy diet advice from professionals like Karen Rosito.
These PE classes will start broadcasting on television stations, including Channel 7, starting later this week.
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