College of Physical Education

The Department of Physical Education was established in 1973. At that time, the Department awarded a Diploma in Physical Education Major and only in 1996 was the Department of Physical Education, at the College of Educational Sciences, able to accept students in a B.A. Programme in Physical Education. For the first time in 2006, the Department of Educational Sciences accepted the first group of students for the B.A. Programme in Physical Education. In 2008, the College of Physical Education became independent from the College of Educational Sciences.

Ever since it gained independence, the College of Physical Education has encountered numerous challenges in establishing itself. The idea of establishing an independent college began in 1998. The efforts of Professor Rami Hamdallah at that time made the process of carrying out and implementing the plan for establishing this College possible in 2006. Academic study at this College began at the University's New Campus in the second academic semester of the year 2008-2009.

The College of Physical Education occupies 7,600 square meters of the University New Campus, which includes: an indoor swimming pool equipped with the most modern technology, a multi-purpose hall for sports, a squash hall, a gymnastic hall, a body-building hall with various purposes, a wrestling hall, an outdoor tennis court, a volleyball and a basketball playground, a training hall, a measurement lab, a physical therapy lab and a computer lab.

College Philosophy

The philosophy embraced by the College of Physical Education closely corresponds with the philosophy of An-Najah National University itself. The College is concerned with scientifically and professionally preparing its graduates so that they can embark on successful careers in the public and private sectors, organisations, the Ministry of Education and Higher Learning, the Ministry of Youth, health and body-building centres and in military sports centres. The College will provide these institutions and work-places with the most competent and qualified candidates who are able to contribute to and meet the needs of the society and who are able to measure up to standards of scientific progress. The College has made it an imperative that its graduates represent a fundamental principle in the vision for developing Palestinian sports and successfully preparing the Palestinian national teams.

College Objectives

The College of Physical Education strives to accomplish the following goals & objectives:

• To prepare highly qualified and competent sports graduates in various capacities as sport teachers and trainers. The graduates will have received scientific and professional training so to meet the needs of diverse sports organisations- including schools, clubs, universities, institutes and body-fitness centres- for ordinary people and people with special needs in Palestine.
• To develop and improve the sports training in Palestine by selectively recruiting promising sports beginners and nurturing their tenacity and psychology. Students will be able to prepare short, medium and long-term training programmes for the novice, the elderly and for both sexes.
• To develop the educational curricula and the teaching of physical education techniques in Palestinian schools.
• To develop social relations, treat mistaken and erroneous beliefs about physical education, ascertain the philosophy on which physical education depends and pay great care and attention to sports for handicapped peoples.
• To spread awareness and cultural health for improving and maintaining better health and life amongst society's members and publicising the role of sports in developing and enhancing this health.
• To make use of technology in the development of the sports movement and in its marketing.
• To participate in the selection of national teams by targeting schools on the account that they hold the biggest potential pool of competitive recruits. This will involve building long-term training programmes for the representation of Palestine in Arab, regional, and international Sports Forums at the levels of high schools, clubs and national teams. This will also involve refraining from participating in such events for only the sake of participating.
• To help students to acquire the necessary skills for participating in various sports and physical education activities, in addition to helping students become acquainted with the legal knowledge pertaining to it and the ability to referee sports matches and events.
• To prepare students with the ability to define and use the proper tools, equipment and modern techniques in teaching school physical education
• To prepare students with the ability to make use of the relevant knowledge that they have acquired in sociology, psychology, and other subjects and apply this knowledge within their study and practice of physical education. Students should make use of the various theories that they have learned in teaching physical education to both normal students and to those students with special needs.
• To develop students’ abilies of problem-solving, their ability to work in various capacities and to make use of whatever is available to them within the surrounding environment for the teaching process.
• To strengthen the relation between the University and the Palestinian society through the effective and instrumental use of the various facilities of the College of Physical Education.

The College Ambition

The College of Physical Education hopes to begin awarding the Master Degree in Physical Education and a B.A. Degree in Natural Treatment