According to Ms Giovanna Rousseau, assistant director for Sports Promotion in the Sports Planning and Development Division, the survey is very important because the data collected will allow them to generate answers to some specific questions.

For example, she said that after the survey had been completed they will know exactly how many people and from which age group are more active, what kind of sports people like the most, why is it that certain people are not taking physical exercise and what kind of activities the local population would like to get involved in in the future.

The information gathered, she explained, would allow those responsible (government, National Sports Council, local federations and associations) to devote more time to promoting the different sporting disciplines, to build more infrastructure depending on the demand, or to work on an educational programme to convince the population of the importance of exercising.

“We have already sent sports participation survey forms to all primary and secondary schools across the country. Soon, we will be sending forms to post secondary institutions and different working places,” she said, adding that all teachers will also be asked to fill in the forms.

She noted that most schoolchildren from P1 to S5 were already involved in physical exercises through the physical education programme which had been well implemented.

The MLGSC now hopes to discover which kind of sporting discipline each child is most interested in so that it can supply appropriate training as early as possible.