Education Secretary Michael Gove has agreed to continue funding the schools sports partnership system.
Michael had his team had been looking to orginally try and save some of the money but have since reconsidered how best we work towards encouraging more children into competitive sport. I've been working with my two local SSP coordinators and I'm sure they will be very pleased by the news.
There will be £47m to keep the SSPs going until summer 2011 and a further £65m to release one PE teacher for one day a week from 2011 to promote pupils' participation in sporting activities
Michael has said: "I want competitive sport to be at the centre of a truly rounded education that all schools offer. But this must be led by schools and parents, not by top-down policies from Whitehall," Gove said. "It's time to ensure what was best in school sport partnerships around the country is fully embedded and move forward to a system where schools and parents are delivering on sports with competition at the heart.
"This will take some time and I'm pleased to be able to confirm some funding for school sports partnerships during this transition. But I'm looking to PE teachers to embed sport and put more emphasis on competitions for more pupils in their own schools, and to continue to help the teachers in local primary schools do the same,"
