Why children die during physical education classes
The minister of education of Russia blames the law on personal data, but experts tell about overloading of school students, because of which the heart fails
Minister of Education of Russia Olga Vasilyeva announced terrible figures at a meeting of the profile committee of the Council of Federation. According to her, more than 200 children died in Russia during physical education classes in the academic year 2016. The minister did not call the cause of the deaths, but the news more often report about ''heart problems''. Vasilyeva blames the law on personal data that does not allow doctors to disclose information about children's health condition. They tell about academic overload of school students, whose ''working'' day is even more than of an adult. Read the details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Learn to death: 211 children died in gym class
Two hundred and eleven schoolchildren died during physical education classes in 2016. This data was announced by Minister of Education and Science of Russia Olga Vasilyeva at the meeting of the Federation Council committee for science, education and culture. Vasilyeva connects this situation with the law on personal data protection, because of which the educational institutions today do not have medical cards of school students. As a result, Vasilyeva explained, a teacher is unable to properly balance physical activity among students.
According to the head of the ministry, the agency agreed with physicians how to return in practice the previously existed health groups.
At the same time, Vasilyeva noted that she considers this approach to be wrong. The minister of education considers that the teacher should have information not only about health group but also about the specific diagnosis. For example, in the case of epilepsy, they need to know what to do.
Immediately after the statement by Vasilyeva, the ministry of health of the Russian Federation came out with the explanation that from 1 January 2018 the new order ''On the procedure of conducting preventive medical examinations of minors'' No. 514n comes into force. According to it, the physician responsible for preventive examination of the child sends information about the results to the medical staff of the school.
At the same time, according to the order of the ministry of education and science No. 107 dated 15 February 2012, providing the medical assessment when enrolling the child to school rests with the parents or legal representatives.
''High school students have a much more load than adults do. In such situation it is difficult to survive''
Experts see the causes of deaths during physical education classes not only in the law on personal data.
''There are several reasons. The first is the absence of reliable information on health status of children in schools. Second, insufficient qualification of the teacher, far not all teachers consider the individual characteristics of the child, their state of health. Very often it is not maintained a period of recovery after illness. The third reason — a very high overload of students,'' says director of the Institute of Developmental Physiology of the Russian Academy of Education, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Maryana Bezrukikh.
According to Bezrukikh, over the last decades SanPiN norms (Sanitary Rules and Regulations) have increased the acceptable load on children.
''High school students have the load more than 50 hours a week — it is more than of an adult. The load of the child should not be more and should not be the same as that of an adult because the child organism is a growing organism that is particularly sensitive to any adverse impacts. Learning is hard work. In the situation when the organism is tense or stressed, or tired, any addition physical activity can lead to tragic consequences. Should we also consider that virtually all children do not sleep enough, they spend much time in the open air, they don't have a minute of free time, in such situation it is difficult to survive,'' said Maryana Bezrukikh to Realnoe Vremya, paying attention that a tragedy can happen even to a healthy child under such pace of life.
On the same rake: 37 school children died in 2015. Recommendations were given but not fulfilled
According to director of the Institute of Developmental Physiology at the Russian Academy of Education, this is confirmed by news reports, most often it is younger students and teenagers who die during physical education classes. ''It is the period of major functional restructuring, the period of puberty, when the organism is especially sensitive to stress, especially if they are inadequate and can simply exceed the functional resource of the child.''
Vasilyeva in the report to the Federation Council did not announce the causes of deaths of 211 students, but judging by the information from the news reports (each case is resonant and get into the headlines), usually death comes due to heart problems. According to the expert of Realnoe Vremya, ''it is an expected situation''.
Bezrukikh considers that even in high school the number of lessons a day should not exceed five, and the homework should not take more than 2,5 hours. According to Bezrukikh, the institute has already provided research and advice on the optimal load of students to the ministry of education, ''but SanPiN is now developed by the ministry of health, I find it very strange that the ministry of health allowed such SanPiNs, by load they do not correspond to the physiology of school children'', says the interlocutor of Realnoe Vremya.
The government not for the first time has drawn attention to the death of children during the lessons. In 2015, there was the order of then Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, associated with the deaths of 37 children in schools.
''In 2015, the institute conducted a study. Each case was considered, the cause of the death was determined, we received a big help with analysis and prepared guidelines, but the fate — whether they reached schools and whether the measures were taken — is unknown.''
''In pursuit of ratings and assessments both parents and schools have forgotten about the health of children''
Another cause of children deaths during physical education classes is the lack of information on health status of children by teachers. If parents themselves do not wish to inform the teacher about the problems of their child, the school has no right to demand documents. These data would allow to assign students to groups with the appropriate physical load.
The third reason is a low qualification of teachers of physical culture, and sometimes even its absence. For example, in elementary school almost everywhere the physical education is given by the class teacher. Elementary school teachers do not have enough hours, and they have additional load with subjects of not their profile.
In middle and senior level, there are problems with qualification of teachers:
''Not all teachers have education. It can be a coach: he or she can be a good athlete, but they do not have the knowledge of developmental physiology, they do not know the technology of work with children with different health conditions,'' says Maryana Bezrukikh. ''In pursuit of ratings and assessments both parents and schools have forgotten about the health of children,'' the expert concludes.