Government to introduce structured football programme to schools’ PE

A structured, football-focused programme is likely to be rolled out soon in public schools across Guyana as the Government of Guyana works alongside the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) to incorporate such into their “Physical Education Fridays” initiative, Minister within the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry, Steven Jacobs revealed last week.
Jacobs made the utterances at the launch of the 12th Massy Under-18 Schools’ football tournament, as he discussed how Government would be playing a part in the development of the sport locally.
Jacobs disclosed, “But from a Government’s perspective, the President’s initiative of the PE programme is to address sports in schools and currently, we are working on a structured PE programme with the Guyana Football Federation, constantly in talks on how we can structure a football programme during the PE hours of schools.”
“Because we understand that the real grassroot or the feeder system stems or lies in school,” the Sport Minister added.
However, collaborative efforts for the Physical Education programme will go beyond just football as Jacobs also divulged about partnerships with the Education Ministry.
The Sport Minister informed, “With that also, we are working along with the Ministry of Education, the Allied Arts department, we are working very closely in how we will continue to work together to make sure you, the young people of this country, that there is an opportunity for you in sport.”
“Physical Education Fridays” is the brainchild of President Dr Irfaan Ali, who had advised that Friday afternoons would be dedicated to Physical Education in public schools across the country.
President Ali had made the announcement at the commissioning of the Brickdam Secondary School in July of 2025.
The Head of State shared on that occasion, “We’re building complete human beings, understanding what real human capital really is, and understanding that in our national ecosystem, sports, physical education, play a very important role. And I’ve seen the beautiful schools across our country. And in the next five years, great emphasis will be placed on recreational facilities to support our academic education. To this end, I want to see in the education system Friday afternoons, after lunch, completely dedicated to sports and physical education. I believe strongly that if we are to make a shift from a device-led world to a human-led world, we need to make these important changes. And I would say that one of the priorities would be reorganising our education system to make Friday afternoons completely dedicated to physical education, recreation, and sports.”