School sport to be doubled

Plans to double the amount of sport children do at school are being drawn up by ministers.

After-school sessions will be expanded to enable children to play up to four hours a week of team and competitive sport.

The plans, to be announced by Tony Blair next month, are aimed at getting a generation of couch potato children to lead healthier lifestyles.

But headteachers warned that many schools cannot find the time to cram in the government's existing requirement of two hours of PE a week. And because much of the extra provision will be outside normal school hours, it will not be compulsory-Children who would rather go home and play computer games will be able to avoid taking more exercise than they do now.

The Government wants schools to forge close links with sports clubs in order to offer a wider range of activities. Schools will be helped by a network of sports co-ordinators. In football, for example, these will often be qualified coaches with a network of contacts in professional and amateur clubs.

Government sources said the plans were still being finalised. But they are planning a launch next month attended by Mr Blair, Education Secretary Charles Clarke and Culture, Media and Sport Secretary Tessa Jowell.

Ministers know they have to tackle the widespread concerns about rising childhood obesity rates.

And they realise that if children can do a wider range of sports, this will increase the potential pool of talent in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games which London is a frontrunner to host.

But a third of schools already fail to ensure pupils get the minimum-two hours a week of PE stipulated by the Department for Education and Skills.

They are likely to miss the 2006 target that three quarters of children should be playing that amount of games each week.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "We are still nowhere near getting the two- hour entitlement into every school.

"I would infinitely prefer to see us achieving that before anyone started talking about four hours."