A total of 140,000 students in primary and secondary schools in Beijing have taken winter sports courses over the past two years as the city brought the Winter Olympic Games to classrooms, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education.
An official at the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education said the city has been promoting winter sports in nearly 100 schools in all 16 districts.
As a ski field can accommodate more people than an ice rink, more than 80,000 students have practiced snow sports, and more than 50,000 students have practiced sporting activities over ice.
To address the difficulties in rolling out winter sports on campuses, the municipal education authorities have encouraged the partnership of schools and private entities to offer winter sports activities.
The Beijing Municipal Commission of Education will team up with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports to help design syllabuses for winter sports courses and groom instructors through public recruitment and on-campus selection to give professional training to students.
This year, the municipal government will give further boost to winter sports on campuses by providing financial support.
The municipal education authorities have initiated a pilot program that promotes synchronized skating at six schools including Shijia Primary School and Qianmen Primary School, with plans to extend the program to more schools.
The first batch of 52 schools have adopted winter sports in their curricula, and those schools will be subject to qualification review at the second half of this year.
More schools that are eligible will introduce winter sports as one of their compulsory courses, said the official.
The city will also build high-level school clubs this year to promote the popularity of winter sports.
According to the municipal education authorities, the government will give more efforts to raise the number of qualified instructors, improve curriculum design, and promote the construction of winter sports venues.