Children and youth sports are not developing in the country, children simply have no place to go to, there is no necessary infrastructure. The First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Artem Novikov said at a meeting on the development of children’s and youth sports.
«Fifty percent of person’s health depends on physical activity. Development of mass and youth sports issues remain uncovered. Statistics show that the number of sports facilities has decreased significantly (sports areas in courtyards and parks, football fields, swimming pools, ski resorts, fitness centers) since 2016. It is not clear what kind of work the State Agency for Youth Affairs has been doing over the years to support development of mass sports and popularize the healthy lifestyle,» he said.
Artem Novikov reminded that most of the developed programs and projects do not work.
«For example, the first item in the government’s program «Sports Kyrgyzstan — 2018-2022» is construction of flat grounds, even the source of funding has been determined. It seems that all our decisions remain on paper, in fact nothing is being implemented. Then we wonder why a high-rise building is being built on the site where the sports ground is to be installed. This place has been abandoned for years, and construction companies see it and begin to act,» he stressed.
As a result of the meeting, it was instructed until the end of March 2021 to:
- Conduct an inventory of all sports grounds, territories and gyms, prepare a list of facilities where repair and construction of sports facilities is needed;
- Make proposals on projects for development of children’s and youth sports in the framework of public-private partnership;
- From September 1, the Ministry of Education, together with the Ministry of Culture, has to launch a project for development of school sports «School League»;
- To step up efforts to attract investors for development and popularization of sports;
- To prepare a mechanism for restoring interaction between schools and state agency coaches to train children by the end of March;
- Ensure access of children to sports facilities that are state or municipal property on a gratuitous basis.
