Opinion: Proper facilities, not just competition, needed for school sports

Tiina Halttunen, a city councilor from Helsinki, raises concerns about the diminishing role of physical education in Finnish schools, directly addressing issues highlighted in a previous opinion piece. She criticizes the current state of school sports facilities, arguing that the basic requirement of having a suitable outdoor sports area near every school is not being met, especially in Helsinki.

Halttunen points to Vattuniemen Ala-aste in Lauttasaari as a prime example. Students from this school must spend nearly an hour walking to the nearest proper sports field, Lauttasaaren Pyrintö's field, often referred to as "Pyrkkä." This significantly reduces the actual time available for physical activity during a 90-minute lesson, leaving very little time for changing and participating, particularly for younger students.

Due to these travel constraints, students at Vattuniemen Ala-aste primarily use a sand field behind the Lauttasaari library. This field lacks running tracks, proper game areas, and facilities for long or high jumps. In winter, the field is only iced if there is a long enough cold spell, and students have no changing rooms, often having to put on skates while sitting in snowdrifts. Halttunen notes that for many winters, students at this school have not been able to skate at all.

While acknowledging the significant role schools play in fostering a physically active lifestyle among young people, as stated by Katri Piirtola in her earlier piece, Halttunen emphasizes that the first step should not be increasing competitiveness. Instead, she argues, the priority must be ensuring adequate and proper sports facilities are available for all Finnish schools.