THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AFTER-SCHOOL
Author: ALI KHALIFA ALI AL-SHAMLI
Date: 22 Jan 2008
In the previous century the population of Oman led a more active life compared to the current generation. Nowadays, with the advancement in technology, mechanization and automation, human physical activity has been radically reduced. The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of after school physical activities five physiological fitness components (cardiovascular fitness, body composition, flexibility, muscle strength and endurance) of a study sample in the Al-Dhahirah region, Sultanate of Oman. The study sample consisted of 330 male students from the 10th grade of the 2006/2007 school year of three wilayats in Oman (Ibri, Yanqul and Dank) which were divided into rural and urban areas. The age of the sample was sixteen to seventeen years, the average weight approximately 55kg, and the average height was 168.06cm. The study used a 1 mile walk/run test to measure cardiovascular fitness, a skinfold of (chest, abdominal, and thigh) to measure fat percentage, sit- and – reach test for flexibility, hand grip test for muscle strength, and one minute sit-ups for muscle endurance. The study found a significant difference between the pre-test and post test of health components for body fat, muscle endurance and cardiovascular endurance at the significance level α = 0.005. Rural students were significantly more active in sports as well as work activities as compared to the urban students. This study also found a major significant difference in body fat percentage, muscle endurance, and cardiovascular endurance fitness components between the students in rural and urban areas. This concurs with general perception since the majorities of students from rural areas are very agile and show greater physical endurance and less body fat percentage when compared to the students from urban areas. For body fat percentage, only the rural students showed a significant difference between the pre test and post test.
Conversely, the urban students showed significant difference between the pre test and the post test for muscle endurance and cardiovascular endurance. Both the urban and the rural students showed a significant difference between the pre test and the post test for flexibility. Furthermore, this study found that most of the students participate in sport activities and work activities after school hours, and most of them participated between one to one and half hours during the week.
The sporting activity in mostly football, however other sports are also participated in such as volleyball, handball, and table tennis. Most students in Ibri and Yanqul spend one to two days per week in work activities, while most of the Dank students spend three to four days. And most of these work activities are farming, however, a few students are shepherds, whose work involves lifting or carrying. It concluded that kind of activities that students involve in were no enough to enhance physiological fitness components. This study recommends that the Ministries of Education and Sport Affairs should co-operate to promote after school physical activities by designing an extra curricular programme, with different types of physical activities that require all students to participate after school for as often as possible. It also recommends that school facilities are utilised after school hours, especially those located near large conurbations. A further recommendation is that various sports programmes should be organized after school hours under the supervision of specialized persons in order to utilize and take the maximum advantage of these facilities. Also the ministry of Education should increase the number of physical education sessions and focus them to improve the physiological fitness components. And a final recommendation is that the Ministry of Sports Affairs should focus on developing more sports programmes to encourage various sport activities, which in consequence would generate competition and thus promote sporting excellence that would help identify sporting talent.
ALI KHALIFA ALI AL-SHAMLI
E mail: alshomali@hotmail.com