Statistical research on the interest activities at primary and secondary schools

Autor	PhDr. František Pelka, Mgr. Marta Ondrušková
Organisation	NIDM
Year	1998
Research type	research report
Annotation	This research attempted to find out what is the situation at Czech schools concerning the interest activities by which pupils and students occupy themselves in their leisure time and to compare the results with the results of former researches. These statistical researches are usually carried out once in four years. They were carried out in the years 1977, 1982, 1986, 1991,1994 and 1998. The questionnaire was always sent to the same schools and those schools that do not exist anymore are replaced by others (until the year 1998 it was 16 schools). The questionnaire was sent to 402 primary and 280 secondary schools from various towns in Czech Republic and 283 and 188 questionnaires were returned (70%). In total 471 questionnaires were analyzed. As well as in previous years following spheres of interest activities were observed: natural sciences, social sciences, aesthetic education, technique, sports and hiking. Both the number of the interest clubs and the number of its members in particular spheres were observed. This research report also includes the “ranking list” of the most frequent interest clubs. In the scope of this research it was also observed –as well as in the year 1998- how many children go to the school nurseries and to school clubs. The information on the proportion of physical and intellectual activities is also presented. findings Since the last research, which was carried out in 1998, the amount of regular interest activities increased both at primary and secondary schools. It was found out that more than half of the primary school pupils and 28 % of secondary school students are members of some interest club. The highest rate of participation in these clubs is, as usually, at primary schools in Prague - already 68%, in other regions it is about 50%. In comparison to previous years the average number of interest clubs at school increased in all regions and both at primary and secondary schools. At primary schools there are on average 14,5 clubs, at secondary schools the average number is 8 clubs. Another interesting information –which corresponds to the changes in Czech society- is the proportion of teachers and external chiefs of the clubs. Since the year 1991 the amount of teachers who organize the interest clubs at schools increased rapidly. In total the proportion at the primary schools is 1 external person to 7 teachers and at secondary school the proportion is even 1:8,5. Before the year 1991 this ratio ranged from 1,3:1 to 1,6:1. This proportion changed also at the secondary schools, but the negative development seems to change – between the years 1998 and 2002 this ratio decreased – it was 9,6:1 in 1998 and 8,5:1 in 2002. Nevertheless these data can be perceived as inauspicious, at least from the viewpoint of the students. They are thus in their leisure time with the same people who teach them in the school. On the other hand, this also documents how devoted and zealous the teachers are and it shows that they are highly aware of the fact that the interest activity is an important mean of the primary precaution. The sports and physical training are still the most common interest clubs, but the ratio of this kind of interest activities decreased since the year 1998. This decrease is rather inconsiderable regarding the number of the clubs (31% and 27%) but literally dramatic regarding the number of members in these clubs. While in the year 1998 every second (or more precisely 48%) member of any club was a member of sport club, four years later it was only every third (30%). So the main cause of the decrease is not the drop in the number of the interest clubs but very strong decrease in the average number of members of these clubs (from 30,1 in 1998 to 15,8 in 2002). The only explanation for this change is the drop in the number of the “mass” interest sport clubs /such as sport games/ and higher proportion of the individual sports. On the contrary, at the secondary schools the proportion of sport and PT activities increased (from 20% up to 32%) and this
Keywords	leisure time, interest,
Research type	comparative research
Start date	1. 1. 1998
End date	30. 11. 1998
Obor	AM Pedagogy, education
Note
Email	vyzkumy@nidv.cz
Availability	available in the NRVDM electronic library
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Research location	Národní institut pro další vzdělávání, Senovážné nám.25, Praha 1
Organisation	NIDM
Organisation web
Possible connection	Children and Youth Ratio in population Number of children and young people Expected numbers of children and young people Number of Live Births Life expectancy