PE at Leaving Cert will have ‘no effect’ on fitness

Introducing PE as a Leaving Certificate exam subject this year will have “no effect” on schoolchildren’s fitness levels because it will only attract those who are good at it.

That’s according to Niall Moyna, head of the School of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, who said: “It will be taken up by those who are good at it, the people who are really physically active. But how do you engage those who aren’t?”

Instead, a health science subject combining elements of home economics, human biology and PE should be introduced to teach young people the reasons why longterm fitness is so important to future health.