Physical education (PE) plays a significant role in the contribution of promoting healthy schools, focusing on the physical, cognitive, and holistic wellbeing of schoolchildren. To be physically active contributes to the development of physical competence and fitness, as well as to the cognitive, social and emotional development of children. According to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines children should undertake 60 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily but unfortunately this is not always achieved. Schools play an important role in achieving the recommended daily physical activity guidelines by incorporating PE lessons into the school curriculum. Since many schools in low-income communities are affected by inadequate and poor infrastructure, lack of PE equipment and large class numbers, an attempt was made to include these factors in the design of the KaziKidz lesson plans in order to increase children’s opportunities for be physically active.
KaziBantu’s whole-school programme promotes healthy, active living and strives to drive positive and sustainable changes in health within disadvantaged schools in low- and middle-income countries. Under the auspices of the KaziBantu Project arose the KaziKidz toolkit which is a holistic educational and instructional tool designed to provide teachers with user-friendly instructional lesson plans, incorporating games, activities and music that can easily be implemented in low-resourced settings. KaziKidz accounts for the challenges experienced in lower quintile schools and aims to combat the challenges posed by limited teacher training and poor resource provision and large class numbers. By incorporating the KaziKidz toolkit into their teaching practices, teachers can provide opportunities for physical activity, long-term healthy habits and create awareness for the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
In 2019, KaziBantu introduced teaching materials for grades 1 to 7, which are aligned with the South African Curriculum Assessment Policy. Building on this success, in 2022, KaziBantu partnered with the University of Namibia (UNAM) to develop specialized teaching materials tailored for Pre-primary schools. Today, we are thrilled to announce the launch of the KaziKidz toolkit for pre-primary, which can be accessed freely at https://www.kazibantu.org/kazikidz/ . This educational tool will serve as a multi-faceted instructional guide to concepts related to PE; Moving-to-music; Health and Hygiene; and Nutrition education lessons. This KaziKidz Pre-Primary Teaching Material is based on the Namibian curriculum and was developed in 2023 with financial support from the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Berne, Switzerland.
