By Nick Butler

More than 100,000 young people have benefited from the Education Programme, it is claimed ©Rio 2016More than 100,000 young people across 168 schools in and around Rio de Janeiro have benefited from the Rio 2016 Education Programme, it has been claimed, with sports participation and the "Olympic and Paralympic values" two key areas of focus.

Since February, 2,026 people, including physical education teachers, tutors, teaching coordinators and student leaders, have participated in training courses provided as part of the project, focusing on the Olympic and Paralympic Movements.

During the same period, more than 140 PE teachers have received training on how to teach various sports, including archery, athletics, badminton, fencing and hockey, with two more sports training courses due to be staged before the end of this year.

The Education Programme, which was officially incorporated into the Rio de Janeiro city schools system this year, will be one of the main social legacies of the Games.

Known in Portuguese as "Transforma", it is now active in the municipalities of Niterói, São Gonçalo, Nova Iguaçu, Mesquita and Paty do Alferes.

Schools from all over Brazil can download activity suggestions and support material about the Olympic and Paralympic Movements on the programme's official webpage, which can be accessed here. 

Hockey has been one sport introduced to pupils as part of the Rio 2016 Education Programme ©Rio 2016/André RedlichHockey has been one sport introduced to pupils as part of the Rio 2016 Education Programme ©Rio 2016/André Redlich







"We have provided teachers with training and teaching materials that have been used by various schools to incorporate new sports, such as rugby and hockey, into their curriculums," said Rio 2016's head of education Mariana Behr.

"In order to take these new experiences to more and more youngsters, the programme is being expanded to new schools in other municipalities in the state of the Rio."

This will complement other aspects of the Rio 2016 Education Progamme, which includes the providing of second language training to more than one million Brazilians ahead of the Games.

This project, which will encompass volunteers, Organising Committee staff, contractors and 500,000 Brazilian schoolchildren,is being undertaken by Education First (EF). 

But there has also been criticism of other elements of the Rio 2016 legacy, with former International Olympic Committee Executive Director for the Olympic Games, Gilbert Felli, commenting earlier this year about the lack of social legacy projects around the Deodoro Complex, the second main venues cluster and an economically deprived part of the city.

Others denied these claims, with a Rio 2016 spokesman insisting to insidethegames that "the transformation of Deodoro will be one of the biggest legacies of the Games".

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