As a result of collaboration between the Hungarian Olympic Committee (MOB) and the Hungarian University of Sports Science (TF) the Olympic Values School Programme has been launched in Hungary.
In the first phase, a total of 336 educators participate in the training on 14 occasions, resulting in over 200 schools nationwide and thousands of students joining the program.
MOB hopes that through the educators participating in the training, thousands of students will become familiar with Olympic values such as excellence, respect, and friendship, and eventually become active supporters of the Olympic movement by following the same set of values.
The free, one-day (10-hour) training aims to provide participating educators from any specialization with insights into Olympic education topics using diverse and modern teaching methods. Moreover, it prepares them to apply the programme’s teaching methods in practice at their own schools. The practice-oriented training includes tasks such as simulated interviews with Coubertin, discussing cases related to cheating, messages conveyed by mascot figures, and the issue of peace, as reported by olimpia.hu. Leading the implementation is Tamás Csányi, Head of the Department of Physical Education Theory and Teaching Methods at TF, with Lilla Szijj, a member of the Hungarian Olympic Academy Council, as the project manager.
In his address delivered at the event launching the programme, Ákos Cserny, Deputy Rector for Education at the Hungarian University of Sports Science, highlighted the importance of collaboration between the two organizations, expressing his desire for educators to convey Olympic values, such as Olympism, the value of clean sport, and love for sports, to students. The participants were welcomed on behalf of MOB by Csaba Bartha, Operational Director of MOB and Director of the Research Centre for Training Theory and Methodology at TF.
‘For us, it was not a question to realize our Olympic education project in cooperation with the Hungarian University of Sports Science. The popularity of the programme is evidenced by the fact that the maximum number of applications was filled within two days. We worked hard on it, and excellent materials were produced in terms of publications and methodology. The International Olympic Committee is making a lot of effort to reach out to young people for the promotion and acceptance of the Olympic movement and Olympic ideals. Therefore, the programme includes sports such as climbing, skateboarding, breakdancing, and BMX freestyle. We need to open up to young people, and one way to do this is through the Olympic Values School Program, which can reach thousands of children with educational materials. I would like to point out that in June, one of the stages of the Olympic qualification series will be held at the Ludovika Campus in Budapest, where the programme will also be presented,’ Bartha stated,
The IOC established its Olympic education programme in 2008 with the aim of imparting the Olympic spirit to the younger generation. This strategy was furthered by Jacques Rogge, who conceived the Youth Olympic Games.
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Sources: Hungarian Conservative/MOB/TF/MTI
