Marques, A., Holzweg, M., Scheuer, C., Repond, R. M., Correia, C., Santo, R. E., & Onofre, M. (2014). Extracurricular sports in European schools: A descriptive study. International Sport Studies, 36(1), 63-72.
This study aimed to describe sports extracurricular actzvztzes in European schools.
Questionnaires ,were developed and distributed to 20 member national associations of lhe European Physical Education Associatíon.
The questions focused on: whether extracurricular actívities are compulsory or not; if they are free; whether or not they are an extension of the Physical Education program; who is responsible for their organisation; what are the required qualifications for the instructors, and; how they are timetabled throughoul lhe year.
In most countries, extracurricular activities are not compulsory and fees are only involved in three cases.
Extracurricular activities are taught by Physical Education teachers and, in most cases, are the responsibility of the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Sport. Only in three countries is it possible to teach extracurricular activities without qualificatíons.
Switzerland is the country that allocates the most hours to extracurricular activities (6 hours a week), whereas Slovenia and the United Kingdom only allocate one hour a week. Minutes per session vary from 45 minutes in Slovenía to 100 minutes in Luxembourg. It seems that in some aspects, the European countries’ extracurricular activities are very similar to each other (e.g. with regard to responsibility and professional involvement) whereas other aspects reveal some differences, such as in the amount of tíme allocated and whether they are compulsory or not.