KaziBantu 'Healthy Schools for Healthy Communities'
Published October 3, 2025 | Version Namibian edition v1; 324 pages
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KaziKidz Pre-Primary Book: Teaching Material for Physical Education - A School Readiness Programme: Resources for Pre-Primary Teachers - Namibian Edition supported by UNESCO

Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University of Basel
  • 2. ROR icon University of Namibia
  • 3. ROR icon Nelson Mandela University
  • 4. ROR icon Pädagogische Hochschule Bern
  • 5. ROR icon University of Fort Hare
  • 6. ROR icon Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
  • 7. National Institute for Educational Development

Description

Foreword by Gabriela Ramos from UNESCO:

Globally, physical inactivity is one of the leading risk factors for non-communicable diseases. Combined with overstretched health systems, this trend is particularly worrying in Africa, where physical inactivity among adolescents is alarmingly high at 85.4% and is estimated to cause over 200,000 deaths every year.

Nurturing our children’s physical and overall development should be every government’s number one priority: they are tomorrow’s leaders and our future changemakers. Of course, Namibia, like many other countries, faces the challenge of finding cost-effective ways to achieve this. But contrary to popular belief, creating healthy, happy and active populations does not start with complex, expensive policies: it starts at school, with fun and easy active learning modules which can be delivered by any teacher, in any school, such as the KaziKidz learning programme.

Investing in quality physical activity is pivotal in laying the foundation for lifelong health and well-being. I cannot stress it enough: teachers who guide our children on this path are making an invaluable contribution to sustainable development and social progress. But this cannot happen if we do not support, equip and empower them to drive this change in our schools and beyond. That is why the KaziKidz programme is so important: it responds directly to an urgent need for more culturally relevant educational resources and initiatives that cater to each country’s unique needs and diverse communities.

By providing practical strategies for teachers to incorporate movement and active play into the curriculum, KaziKidz also fills an essential capacitybuilding gap in our education systems. We know that we need to promote motor skill development, cognitive engagement, and social interactions through sports in our schools. But is not enough to just say so: we need purpose-built educational tools such as these, to help us deliver in a safe, values-oriented and interactive way.

We need to integrate quality physical activity into educational systems and national policy frameworks. This goal sits at the heart of UNESCO’s Quality Physical Education resources and our sports flagship, Fit for Life. We have designed this programme to scale the use of sport as a vehicle for the Sustainable Development Goals: through Fit for Life, we want to activate smart investments in evidence-based policy-making, inclusive sports programming, curriculum design, and teacher and coach capacity building.

I encourage all educators to embrace this guidebook to foster positive outcomes inside and beyond the classroom. As a teacher, you can equip children with the skills and habits necessary to contribute meaningfully to sustainable development, in their communities and around the world. The power of quality physical education to drive social change is unparalleled, and Kazi and Thandi are showing us the way: let’s follow them!

Gabriela Ramos
UNESCO Assistant Director General for Social and Human Sciences

Abstract (English)

Being physically active can contribute to the development of physical competence and fitness as well as to the child’s cognitive, social and emotional development. Physical Education (PE) plays a crucial role in the holistic education and development of children. Yet, in many schools from marginalised neighbourhoods, PE is not given the recognition and importance it deserves.

For this reason, the KaziKidz teaching material was developed for teachers, principals, school staff or for those responsible from the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, in order to contribute to and support the quality of PE in these schools. The exercises and games in this book are easy to use, do not require a lot of material and are designed to be enjoyable and exciting for the learners.

The teaching material was developed by a team of Swiss, Namibian and South African experts. The lessons meet the requirements of the Namibian Curriculum and are supported by the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), Okahandja, Namibia, and the UNESCO team Namibia under the leadership of Director Mr. Djaffar Moussa Elkadhum, UNESCO Representative in Namibia.

Technical info (English)

This research project was carried out under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair on ‘Physical Activity and Health in Educational Settings‘ (https://unesco-chair.dsbg.unibas.ch/en/) (with Prof. Dr. Uwe Pühse as UNESCO Chair Holder and Prof. Dr. Cheryl Walter as UNESCO Co-Chair Holder) and is endorsed by UNESCO Switzerland. It was financially supported by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI). The development of the Pre-Primary teaching and learning material has taken place in collaboration with a research team from the University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland, the University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia, the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED), Okahandja, Namibia, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland, and the Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa. In addition, the head teachers and teachers of the pilot schools (Oponganda Pre-Primary School, Khomasdal Primary and Gammans Primary School, all in Windhoek, Namibia) provided valuable input in the development of the KaziKidz teaching materials.

Overall editorial: Prof Dr Uwe Pühse, Prof Dr Cheryl Walter, Prof Dr Cilas Wilders, Dr Ivan Müller, Ronelle Malan, Danielle Dolley, Nandi Joubert and Larissa Adams.

Text contributions: Prof Dr Uwe Pühse, Prof Dr Cheryl Walter, Prof Dr Rosa du Randt, Prof Dr Cilas Wilders, Dr Ivan Müller, Ronelle Malan, Dr Sebastian Ludyga, Jan Degen, Nandi Joubert and Danielle Dolley.

Design and illustrations: Rooftop, Gqeberha*, South Africa.

Printing and publication of the 2023 edition in South Africa.

© 2023 KaziBantu, University of Basel (Basel, Switzerland), University of Namibia (Windhoek, Namibia) and Nelson Mandela University (Gqeberha, South Africa).

The KaziKidz teaching material reflects the views of the authors. The copyright and all other rights to content and illustrations belong exclusively to KaziBantu or the specifically named rights holders. For the reproduction of any elements, the written consent of the copyright holders must be obtained in advance.

© 2023 KaziBantu

*Formerly known as Port Elizabeth

Files

KaziKidz_Book_Pre-Primary_SchoolReadiness_NamibianVersion_WEB_V6_Oct2023.pdf

Files (31.5 MB)

Additional details

Identifiers

URL
https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/ZA/book/kazi-kidz-pre-primary-teaching-material-for-physical-education-a-school-readiness-programme/1500183
URL
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ivan_M%C3%BCller_KaziKidz_Pre_Primary_Teaching_Material?id=8VXsEAAAQBAJ&hl=de_AT&gl=US

Related works

Is part of
Report: https://unesco-chair.dsbg.unibas.ch/en/10-years-of-collaboration/ (URL)
Is supplement to
Report: https://zenodo.org/records/16780747 (URL)

Funding

State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation

Dates

Available
2023-10-01
Openly available and free to download: lesson plans (including games and posters)