YESTERDAY the government pledged to revive competitive sport in schools with an Olympics-style contest.

Lottery cash will be used to fund tournaments in sports such as football, rugby, cricket, athletics, gymnastics, cycling, volleyball and judo. Schools will compete against each other with winning individuals and teams qualifying for county finals.

The best will be selected for national contests. What a breath of fresh air this is from Education Secretary Michael Gove.

Fewer than one third of pupils in the UK take part in regular competitive sport within schools and fewer than one in five participates in regular competition between schools.

So any initiative to reintroduce this ethos is to be loudly applauded after years of competition being frowned upon by those who think it’s a destructive and harmful activity, which is clearly nonsense – as is the fact that pupils at some schools in East Dorset are being encouraged to massage each other for 15 minutes each day.

Apparently the scheme, which we reported yesterday, leads to calmer classrooms and boosts concentration and confidence.

Perhaps I am out of touch, but I thought that’s what discipline and good teaching were for. How about the revolutionary idea of getting the youngsters to do something more constructive? Like spending time on the school playing field for instance.