Meet the 2024 #BeActive Awards Finalists - Education

The selected finalists are inspiring examples of how the power of sport can help improve children’s physical health and extend their education beyond the classroom. Sport is part of an active education environment and provides a more rounded learning experience. 

Meet the finalists in the Education category

Fair Play Point zs, Czechia

The League of Fair-play Football (LFF) is an after-school programme organised in 7 regions of the Czech Republic, in cooperation with 50 social service organisations. 

The programme unites more than 250 participants monthly and combines sports and non-formal education. 

In this league, there are no traditional rules of football or a conventional point system. By working together as a team, participants create their own rules, dealing with he game situations without the intervention of a referee. They reflect on the game with the help of mediators and a specific point system that leads the participants to assess their compliance with fair-play values.  

Since 2016, the league of fair-play football programme ensures equal opportunities for young people without any after school care or means to spend their free time actively. This programme has proven to be a powerful preventive tool against youth violence and delinquency in Prague. It promotes community building while improving the social skills and overall well-being of the young participants.  

Sportunion Österreich, Austria

“UGOTCHI – Punkten mit Klasse” is an initiative of the Austrian sports association SPORTUNION which addresses pupils in elementary schools all over Austria. 

This annual initiative aims to promote a healthy lifestyle among children and is based on three pillars 

• physical activity 
• healthy nutrition
• emphasising mindfulness by teaching social values such as equality, respect, and friendship

Participation is free of charge and every elementary school in Austria can take part. The content of the programme can be flexibly integrated into daily routine, as it is not dependent on the educational system. 

The initiative is based on a reward system. During a period of 4 weeks (8 April - 5 May in 2024), children earn points for physical activities, healthy eating and being mindful at school and in their leisure time. At the end of each week and of the whole period a class point score is drawn up. Depending on the total score of the class, children receive a medal sticker for their class poster and individual children’s booklets. 

Município de Paços de Ferreira, Portugal

The Vamos Aprender a Nadar (Let's learn how to swim) is an innovative programme developed by the Municipality of Paços de Ferreira (Porto, Portugal). 

The programme aims to make swimming classes outside school free of charge to the municipality’s elementary school students. 

The programme has two main objectives

• to develop aquatic motor skills in the context of sport and drowning prevention 
• to promote physical activity, psychological well-being, and social skills

These goals are essential to children’s development and will contribute to their performance at school.

The programme has very positive learning results. The final evaluation of the most recent edition found that around 83% of the total number of students achieved the desired aquatic skills during the project, representing an increase of 75% compared to the first evaluation. 

The programme had more than 900 participating children last school year.