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+--- Thread: Play chess, says Zuma (/Thread-Play-chess-says-Zuma)
Play chess, says Zuma - admin - 25-10-2010
Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has urged school children to play chess referring to it as one education tool that can strengthen a child’s mind.
“We want to convince parents and teachers that chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen and enhance a child's mind,†said President Zuma at the gala dinner of Moves for Life Chess Programme on Sunday.
Zuma - an avid chess player - said chess was a serious sport contrary to popular belief and is a game that young people should be encouraged to play.
“It is an important game in many respects, the main benefit being that it contributes to the development of strategic thinking as well as concentration, analytical skills and problem solving. These are traits that are important for school going children,†said Zuma.
He said the game had stood the test of time adding that even new technology-driven games had not killed the game of chess.
“No amount of video games can teach a child the same level of patience, strategic thinking, concentration, analytical skills and the attention to detail that they would gain from this timeless intellectual game.â€
He said government and the private sector needed to work together to create a culture where chess can be used as both an educational and motivational tool for children.
“We will play our part as government. Both the Departments of Basic Education as well as Sports and Recreation are involved and already working to promote the game,†said the President at the launch of the programme. - BuaNews
Play chess, says Zuma - John Nicholson - 01-11-2010
admin Wrote:Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma has urged school children to play chess referring to it as one education tool that can strengthen a child’s mind.
“We want to convince parents and teachers that chess is one of the most powerful educational tools available to strengthen and enhance a child's mind,†said President Zuma at the gala dinner of Moves for Life Chess Programme on Sunday.
Zuma - an avid chess player - said chess was a serious sport contrary to popular belief and is a game that young people should be encouraged to play.
“It is an important game in many respects, the main benefit being that it contributes to the development of strategic thinking as well as concentration, analytical skills and problem solving. These are traits that are important for school going children,†said Zuma.
He said the game had stood the test of time adding that even new technology-driven games had not killed the game of chess.
“No amount of video games can teach a child the same level of patience, strategic thinking, concentration, analytical skills and the attention to detail that they would gain from this timeless intellectual game.â€
He said government and the private sector needed to work together to create a culture where chess can be used as both an educational and motivational tool for children.
“We will play our part as government. Both the Departments of Basic Education as well as Sports and Recreation are involved and already working to promote the game,†said the President at the launch of the programme. - BuaNews
[SIZE="3"][COLOR="DarkRed"]I could not agree more with these recommendations by the South African President Jacob Zuma.
First of all it can be taught before a child goes to school, and it does not depend on a specialist teacher, children and adults can play chess together it is a wonderful way to introduce people to each other, it is a great natural builder of logical thinking, quite naturally it improves every ones power of concentration, it is very important to mix children from different age groups with each other, where children play chess in mixed age and sex groups there is clear evidence of reduced bullying and far greater natural teaching through internal school mixing both where it is being facilitated by the schools themselves or taking place during break times. I consider learning to play chess as an integral part of teaching children to count and read building neural pathways at the most vital time of any child’s school life ensuring the internal school links that assist the obvious exchange of valuable common information when children are learning to count and read. [/COLOR][/SIZE]