Development continues

Daily physical activity unit has come to stay

Sport Austria President Hans Niessl (l.) and Sports Minister Werner Kogler.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

The pilot phase of the "Daily Physical Activity Unit", which was scheduled to run for two school years, ended with the start of the vacations: 42,000 additional physical activity units this school year means 5,000 more physical activity units than in 2022/23.

The satisfaction of teachers with the implementation of the project is also extremely pleasing. In the evaluation report published at the beginning of this school year, 97 to 99% of respondents rated the points "efficient communication, flawless support and smooth registration" as very positive. The assessment of the quality of the offer was hardly any different: "The exercise units take place regularly, are very popular with the children and are characterized by a great variety of exercise" was rated very positively by 96 to 99 percent!

An impressive result, which is not least due to the good cooperation between the Ministry of Sport and Education as well as the federal states, education directorates, kindergarten departments and educational institutions and organized sport. A total of 216 physical activity coaches from the umbrella organizations ASKÖ, ASVÖ and SPORTUNION ensured that the physical activity units were implemented in the ten project regions in all federal states.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Biggest development step from 2024/25
Following the successful completion of the project phase, the next chapter in the success story will begin in the coming school and kindergarten year: thanks to the considerable increase in the Ministry of Sport's budget to a total of EUR 15.6 million per year, the combination of the "Daily Physical Activity Unit" with the successful "Kinder gesund bewegen 2.0" (KiGeBe) program and an incentive model from the Ministry of Sport for funding from the federal states, EUR 18.03 million per year will be available from 2024/25. In addition, the Ministry of Education is enabling even more support services in Pillar 1 (culture of movement), which provides for the integration of movement in all areas of school and kindergarten (active way to school, moving break, moving lessons, moving morning circle...).

The result of these measures? By 2024/25, 82,000 kindergarten and primary school children will already meet the Austrian physical activity recommendations via the 3-pillar model developed by the Ministry of Sport and Education and Sport Austria (physical activity culture, physical activity units, physical activity diversity). This corresponds to more than 14% of all children in this age group in Austria and is the biggest development step of the "daily physical activity unit" to date!

From 2026/27, the next steps towards nationwide roll-out are to follow as a result of joint efforts by the federal and state governments. In short: the "Daily Physical Activity Unit" is here to stay.