Issues of mass sports development and formation of a healthy lifestyle were considered at the Government session chaired by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.
Minister of Culture and Sports Askhat Oralov reported that annually more than 25 thousand mass sports events of various levels are held in the republic, covering 1.2 million people, including 500 thousand inhabitants of rural areas. In recent years, marathons, bicycle races, family competitions, mass skating, etc. have been gaining popularity. Overall, the number of people engaged in physical culture and sport in the country today is over 38% (more than 7.5 million people).
At the same time, there are more than 800 children's and youth clubs in the country. Under the supplementary education program, more than 49,000 sports sections have been opened in schools, covering about 1.3 million children in the past academic year. In addition, as part of the state sports order sports clubs this year covered more than 190 thousand children.
The Minister said that in Kazakhstan there are about 43 thousand sports facilities, more than 23 thousand of which are in rural areas. This year, work is underway on the construction of 113 new, as well as the reconstruction of 20 and retrofitting 6 existing sports facilities. At the same time, an inventory of existing facilities is being conducted to determine the need for repairs and appropriate equipment.