The Challenges of Managing Extracurricular Activities for Pre-Primary Children's Physical Development in Meru District Council-Arusha

Abstract

Globally, extracurricular activities promote children's readiness to master their physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. This study assessed the challenges in managing extracurricular activities toward children's physical development. The Administrative management theory by Henry Fayol and Froebel's Play Theory was employed in this study. The study employed semi-structured interviews with five pre-primary teachers, five head teachers and five sports teachers. The findings suggest the existence of the following challenges: the shortage of playing facilities in schools, a lack of some children's interest in participating in extracurricular activities, a lack of in-service training on handling extracurricular activities which promote children's physical development, tight school timetables and schedules with no space for extracurricular the participants also shortage of funds to run extracurricular activities. To address the challenges, schools started small projects for fundraising, promoting teachers' mentorship and collaboration among schools to share knowledge and skills on how extracurricular activities encourage children's physical development. Schools frequently meet with parents to emphasise the importance of extracurricular activities to their children's physical development. The study recommended that the school management team educate parents on the importance of extracurricular activities. Further, research needs to be done on the influence of physical development on a child's academic achievement.