Is it correct to take Physical Education teaching hours in Grades 1–4 away from primary school teachers?

Question

Who has the right to teach Physical Education in primary grades — a primary school teacher or a Physical Education teacher? At our school, the Physical Education teaching hours in the primary grades were taken away from primary school teachers. The head of the district department told the school principal that these teaching hours should be assigned to Physical Education teachers. However, the diploma supplements of the Physical Education teachers do not indicate that they have received training in the methodology of teaching Physical Education in primary grades.

There are four Physical Education teachers at our school: two hold the highest qualification category, one holds the second qualification category, and one has recently graduated from a higher education institution.

Among the primary school teachers, one holds the highest qualification category and nine hold the first qualification category. The diploma supplements of two of them do not include the specialization in “Sports and Educational Work,” while the other seven have this specialization indicated in their diplomas.

In addition, four primary school teachers hold the second qualification category; three of them have the “Sports and Educational Work” specialization indicated in their diplomas, while one does not. There is also one primary school teacher who holds specialist status, whose diploma includes the “Sports and Educational Work” specialization. In this situation, which teachers should be assigned the Physical Education teaching hours in the primary grades?

Answer

As is well known, a number of separate subjects are also taught in primary grades. Until now, some of these subjects have been taught by subject teachers from the higher grades, while others have been taught by primary school teachers. Physical Education is one of these subjects.

A guidance letter signed by the Deputy Minister of Public Education on August 10, 2020, provided clarification on the subjects that primary school teachers were entitled to teach. In particular, it stated that teachers whose diplomas indicated the specialization “Primary Education and Sports and Educational Work” could teach Physical Education.

However, taking into account the numerous requests and wishes of primary school teachers, based on an instruction from the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, beginning with the 2021/2022 academic year, teachers qualified to teach in the field of Primary Education were granted the right to teach Physical Education in Grades 1–4.

Therefore, based on this document, beginning with the 2021/2022 academic year, primary school teachers have the right to teach Physical Education in Grades 1–4 regardless of the specific specialization stated in their diplomas.

As is known, amendments and additions were made to the Regulation “On the Procedure for Class Formation and the Preparation of Staffing and Teaching Load Lists in General Education Institutions” by a joint decision of the Ministry of Preschool and School Education, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the Ministry of Health.

According to these provisions, when teaching hours for subjects taught in primary grades are allocated, consideration is given to whether a teacher has a specialization in Primary Education or, respectively, whether the teacher has received training in the methodology of teaching the relevant subject in primary grades.

Based on this rule, Physical Education teachers who do not have a specialization in Primary Education and who have not received training in the methodology of teaching this subject in primary grades may not teach in Grades 1–4.

This requirement was introduced by the Ministry of Preschool and School Education taking into account the age-specific and psychological characteristics of primary school pupils, with the aim of improving the quality of education and upbringing and preventing disputes arising in the allocation of teaching hours.

The way children aged 7–10 perceive knowledge, understand concepts, and acquire educational material differs significantly from the corresponding processes among students in higher grades. Therefore, teaching in primary grades requires not only subject-specific knowledge but also competence in the methodology of working specifically with children of this age group. This requirement also applies to Physical Education.

In other words, having knowledge of Physical Education alone is not sufficient to teach the subject in primary grades. A teacher must also have received training in the methodology of teaching Physical Education in primary grades.

Only Physical Education teachers who have a specialization in Primary Education or who have received training in the methodology of teaching Physical Education in primary grades have the right to teach in Grades 1–4.

In the situation described in the question, the Physical Education teachers who teach in the higher grades do not have a specialization in Primary Education and have not received training in the methodology of teaching Physical Education in primary grades. Therefore, the Physical Education teaching hours in the primary grades should not be assigned to them.

In other words, the available Physical Education teaching hours in the primary grades should be distributed among the primary school teachers. First, the maximum possible number of teaching hours should be assigned to the primary school teacher who holds the highest qualification category. The remaining teaching hours should then be distributed equally among the nine teachers who hold the first qualification category.

If teaching hours still remain after this allocation, they should subsequently be distributed equally among the four teachers who hold the second qualification category. Finally, any remaining teaching hours should be assigned to the specialist teacher who does not hold a qualification category.

At the same time, with the written consent of the teacher who has priority to receive the maximum number of teaching hours, the teaching hours that could be assigned to that teacher may be allocated to other teachers.