History and Present Time of Physical Education

The first mention of standards for physical education in Slovakia refers to the Ratio education reform. This took effect on the territory of Hungary since 1777. Caring for physical education was one of the aims of the school. The requirement of compulsory school physical education is raised the first time by the poet Jan Kollar. Another Hungarian reform in the mid-19th century included physical education among the optional subjects, and this subject is taught in some cities. Physical education became a compulsory subject in 1868. Physical education was taught according to the Spiess system and the hours were for more classes or somewhere just for boys. Physical education teachers have been trained since 1871 in Budapest. A significant promoter of physical education was Ivan Branislav Zoch, author of the first Slovak textbook on physical education (1873). The level of physical education increased after the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918. Physical education was a compulsory subject in schools other than universities (since 1938). Since 1939, in Slovakia the future teachers of physical education were trained in the Physical Education Institute of the Slovak University. The Physical Education Institute underwent a number of organizational changes. In 1960 it was converted into the Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Comenius University in Bratislava, and its direct successor is the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports, Comenius University in Bratislava. Beyond this, the physical education teachers are also trained in other institutions in Slovakia.