The Past, Present and Future of Chinses student Physical Fitness Test
Chen Xing, Jin Hyunju*

ZheJiang Normal University

Abstract

2016, the Chinese Ministry of Education and the General Administration of Physical Education announced the ^Healthy China 2030 Program^, which set the goal of achieving more than 25% of students meeting the highest criteria for physical fitness. China has been paying great attention to the physical health of students since its founding. The origin of the student physical fitness test system was revised to the National Sports Training Standard in 1975, starting with the ^Labor and Defense System^ in 1951. After President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013, it was revised to the ^National Student Physical Health Standard^.

Our textual analysis builds on the study of institutionalism about how the behaviour of actors is conditioned by the institutional contexts (Bell, 2002). We searched national policy documents, academic journals using the keywords ^physical fitness test^ and ^healthy China 2030^. We also surveyed 200 students taking a physical fitness test to understand more about the actor^s perceptions and behaviour patterns.

The results of the study are as follows: 1) The value of the student physical fitness test system is not understood by actors, 2) The physical fitness test system does not provide specific goals for actual physical fitness, 3) There is a lack of a monitoring system in which the system is properly implemented. We argue that China^s student physical fitness test system should be improved in the following direction. It is necessary to raise public awareness of the physical fitness test system, the actors should be able to accurately understand the goals of the system, and additional systems are required to guarantee the test^s accuracy.

Keywords: healthy China 2030 program, institutionalism, student physical fitness test.

Topic: Sport and culture in Asian societies