Professor, PhD S.M. Obukhov
Associate Professor, PhD N.B. Obukhova
Surgut State University, Surgut

Keywords: physical culture and sport, sector economic stability, efficiency of development.

Introduction. The physical education sector in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region – Yugra has been developed substantially over the past few years. However, the aspects of efficiency and practical ways to rationalize the sector development have not been covered yet.

Objective of the study was to analyze the status of physical culture and sport sector in the KhMAR-Yugra and work out the solutions facilitating its development.

Results and discussion. Considerable changes took place in the physical culture and sports sector in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region – Yugra for the period from 1999 through 2014: economic stability in the sector has been improved; the number of people practicing sports and specialists in physical education and sports has increased. At the same time, there are certain downsides as well.

Simultaneous capacity of sports venues in the municipalities of the KhMAR-Yugra constituted 16.42 percent of the required standard in 1999 (Table 1). In 2014, simultaneous capacity increased by 1.34 times and equaled 22 percent, though this indicator is considered to be extremely below the average standard since it does not meet the public demand for affordable and accessible options for physical activities.

Table 1. Simultaneous capacity dynamics in the KhMAR-Yugra (%)

Remarkable progress of the simultaneous capacity dynamic pattern is observed in the following municipalities: Beloyarsky District (46.7 percent), Nizhnevartovsky District (35.9 percent), Beryozovsky District (40.5 percent) and Kondinsky District (43.1 percent).

In 2001, in Khanty-Mansiysky District simultaneous capacity of sports venues constituted 34 percent. Considering that the population has grown by 5 percent and the simultaneous capacity has remained the same, it can be assumed that over 15 years no actions have been taken to improve the indicator. As a matter of fact, in Nefteyugansk the simultaneous capacity decreased from 13.61 percent in 1999 to 13 percent in 2014.

Availability of sport facilities for use by the population of the Russian Federation constituted 62.3 percent at the end of 2013. To some extent, the KhMAR-Yugra falls behind the average national indicator. In total, availability of sports facilities in the KhMAR-Yugra numbers 60.28 percent, which is clearly insufficient for meeting the citizens’ needs for physical activities. This indicator is especially relevant within the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region due to specific pattern of continental subarctic climate (cancelled classes and reduced working days due to cold weather, short summer season).

The highest indicator of availability of sport facilities is observed in Beryozovsky District (140.8 percent), although the number of people leading an active lifestyle constitutes only 21.49 percent. It means that the district authorities do not take appropriate measures to promote healthy living and engage the population in physical culture and sports activities.

Availability of sport facilities equals 100 percent in Nizhnevartovsky District and Yugorsk. This factor contributed to greater physical activity engagement among the citizens of these municipalities: today, over 30 percent of the local residents take part in physical culture and sports activities on a daily basis.

The highest percentage of swimming pool availability within the municipalities of the KhMAR-Yugra is registered in Beryozovsky District (located in the northern area of the region – 43.88 percent) and Khanty-Mansiysk (the capital – 54.98 percent).

The lowest indicator of swimming pool availability within the municipalities of the KhMAR-Yugra is observed in Oktyabrsky District. The district with a population of 30 thousand people, which is quite a big number in terms of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region, is not provided with swimming pools at all.

Generally, the slight but positive growth of swimming pool availability dynamics can be seen all over the region; currently, it equals 19.65 percent. In the Russian Federation, swimming pool availability constituted only 9.9 percent in 2013.

The number of specialists in the physical education and sports sector increased significantly since 2000 (Table 2): from 3490 people in 2000 to 5962 people in 2014 (increase by 70.8 percent and about 30 percent nationwide). Along with that, the number of specialists without a degree in physical education increased as well: from 9.6 to 11.5. In other words, the growth rate of specialists without degree in physical education exceeds the growth rate of the total number of people employed in the sports sector. This indicator decreased from 17.4 percent to 14.2 percent in Russia in 2011.  

It should be noted that among the teachers of general education institutions of the KhMAR-Yugra this indicator declined to 1.02 percent (only 5 teachers did not have physical education degree in 2014). Accordingly, the indicator numbered 15.4 percent among the rest of the teaching personnel; among PE teachers it equaled 16 percent (decline from 26.6 percent in 2000). Physical education teachers, especially the elementary PE teachers, should not be employed a priori, since there is a risk that such employees, having no degree, may inflict serious damage on children’s health.

Table 2. Specialists number dynamics in the KhMAR-Yugra from 2000 to 2014

Currently, the regional number of teaching personnel is increasing: 19.3 percent in 2000, 43 percent in 2007 and 44.6 percent in 2014. However, under such conditions, meeting the normative requirements is expected to occur only in 30-35 years.

The analysis of the normative requirements and the process of its fulfillment provides for distinguishing the following characteristic features: the lowest indicator is in Nizhnevartovsk (24.87 percent) and Nizhnevartovsky District (28 percent). The highest indicator is in Beryozovsky District (152.3 percent) and Khanty-Mansiysk (86 percent). It is important to note that, the number of PE teachers has increased in Beryozovsky District (from 72.9 percent) and Pyt-Yakh (from 27.3 percent to 37.5 percent) over the last two years. It is either heroic deeds of the local authorities or datum error and inaccuracy in statistical reports.

The small number of PE teachers in larger municipalities is the issue to be addressed: 40.7 percent in Surgut, 24.87 percent in Nizhnevartovsk, 39 percent in Surgutsky District, 34.8 percent in Nefteyugansk. At that, there are universities in Surgut and Nizhnevartovsk providing specialized physical education courses.

Analysis of teaching personnel resources and its trends showed that about 165 specialists with the average job tenure of 36 years retire every year. The authorities of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region should arrange replacement of specialists either by training of required number of physical education and sports specialists regionally (there is a small number of state-funded places for students in four universities of the KhMAR-Yugra) or by inviting specialists for collaboration from other regions; in this case, proper social setting should be provided for the specialists.

Such imbalance in availability can only be attributed to the lack of clearly defined personnel policy in the physical education and sports sector.

Today, the number of people exercising on a regular basis is becoming the basic indicator of the physical culture development for any region. Over the last 15 years, the number of people practicing sports has increased twofold (Table 3): the number constituted 11.23 percent in 1999, whereas in 2014 it equaled 25.49 percent. In the Russian Federation, this number constituted 26.7 percent in 2014. In terms of the KhMAR-Yugra, in which availability of sport facilities equals 60.28 percent, open sports grounds – 31.88 percent, swimming pools – 19.65 percent (the indicator is higher than the overall sector indicators in the RF), the presented number of people involved in sports is rather low. According to the "Development Strategy for the period up to 2020", the intermediate number of people practicing sports should have equaled at least 30 percent in 2015.  

 Table 3. Dynamics of the population practicing regular physical activities in the KhMAR-Yugra

In particular, Khanty-Mansiysk should be distinguished from other municipalities within these statistics; the city has increased the number of people doing sports by 3 times over the last 15 years. In 1999, it constituted 14.14 percent, whereas in 2014 – 39.01 percent. Basically, the project "Development Strategy for the period up to 2020", which has it that 40 percent of population in the Russian Federation are to get involved in physical and sports activities by 2020, was implemented in advance. Another three municipalities effectively implementing the project can also be noted: Beloyarsky, Nizhnevartovsky and Sovetsky districts, in which the number of people practicing sports has increased twofold in the last 15 years reaching 34-35 percent.

Among the municipalities falling behind the standard indicator are Nefteyugansk, Kondinsky and Surgutsky districts, in which the number of people practicing sports is below 20 percent due to low dynamics of the sport sector development and a considerable shortage of personnel.

Certain estimated figures indicate the same: thus, the citizen-specialist ratio greatly varies over the municipalities (for instance, 105 citizens per 1 PE specialist in Khanty-Mansiysk and 501 citizens per 1 PE specialist in Nefteyugansk considering the average indicator of 268 citizens). However, there is another indicator in the sector (the basic one) – the percentage of people in sports negatively correlates with the previous indicator (0.38). The following municipalities have a considerable impact on reduction of the specialists’ operational efficiency rate in the region: Beryozovsky District, Kondinsky District and Khanty-Mansiysk, in which the percentage of people in sports could be much higher considering the number of PE specialists (larger than the regional number). Apparently, the local authorities should take steps towards a balanced operation of the municipalities according to its potential in order to reach the target indices.

Analysis of the influence of human resources on the key indicator (percentage of people in sports) arouses interest. This indicator pictures the situation as a questionable one. While Khanty-Mansiysk, Sovetsky and Beloyarsky districts achieve the high percentage of people in sports through the high rate of the PE teachers and instructors, in Nizhnevartovsky District, which is ranked third in terms of the key indicator, the rate of PE personnel is rather low.

The lowest indicator measuring the percentage of people engaged in physical culture and sports is observed in Nefteyugansk (18.5 percent), Kondinsky District (17.2 percent) and Surgutsky District (19.9 percent) as a natural result of low PE specialists availability. As a matter of fact, even the imbalanced citizen-specialist ratio (501 citizens in Nefteyugansk and 350 citizens in Surgutsky District) does not deliver the desired results. So how are Nefteyugansk citizens going to catch up with the regional indicator level and reach the target indices of the "Development Strategy for the period up to 2020" adopted by the government of the Russian Federation? In the neighborhood, the situation is somewhat different: Surgutsky District and Megion are characterized by high citizen-specialist ratio and large number of vacancies. Appropriate measures for involvement of specialists in physical education, including graduates, should be introduced in these municipalities.

The ratio of percentage and number of people practicing sports to the number of specialists is another indicator to be considered. It clearly illustrates the performance of specialists in different municipalities. In 2012, the highest indicators were observed in Kogalym (25.9 percent and 116 citizens per 1 specialist), Beloyarsky District (33.3 percent and 95 citizens per 1 specialist) and Nizhnevartovsky District (33.9 percent and 80 citizens per 1 specialist). The lowest indicators were registered in Khanty-Mansiysky District (17.4 percent and 33 people), Kondinsky District (15.9 percent and 38 people) and Beryozovsky District (19.9 percent and 39 people).  

Analysis of availability dynamics showed that all indicators have increased over the last 15 years. The number of people practicing physical culture and sports activities has increased from 11.23 to 25.49 percent; simultaneous capacity of sports venues – from 16.42 to 22 percent; number of PE teachers and instructors – from 19 to 44.6 percent; the number of open sports grounds – from 30.88 to 31.88; sport facilities – from 60.87 to 60.28 percent; swimming pools – from 18.61 to 19.65 percent. Undeveloped sport infrastructure and shortage of personnel in the physical education and sports sector preclude fulfilling the needs of the KhMAR population for physical activities.

Conclusions. In order to reach the target indices stated by the "Development Strategy for the period up to 2020", the authorities of the KhMAR-Yugra might implement the following measures at the municipal level:  

- carry out an in-depth analysis of the economic stability in terms of municipalities;

- introduce estimated figures into the analysis in order to evaluate operational efficiency of the areas in achieving the target indices;

- stimulate the areas falling behind the average indicator with accessible for the district authorities methods of sector efficiency improvement. 

References

1. Obukhov S.M. Kadrovoe obespechenie fizicheskoy kul'tury i sporta v KhMAO- Yugre. Sb. mater. VII Vseros. nauch. konf. «Sovershenstvovanie sistemy fizicheskogo vospitaniya, sportivnoy trenirovki, turizma i ozdorovleniya razlichnykh kategoriy naseleniya» (Staffing of physical culture and sport sector in KhMAR-Yugra. Proc. of the VII Russian scientific conf. "Improving the system of physical education, sports training, tourism and rehabilitation of different categories of population"). – Surgut, 2008. – P. 127-129.
2. Svodny statisticheskiy otchet KhMAO-YuGRA 1FK za 2000-2014 gg. (Consolidated Statistical Report of KhMAR-Yugra 1PC for 2000-2014).
3. Fizicheskaya kul'tura i sport v Rossiyskoy Federatsii v tsifrakh (2000-2012 gody) (Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation in figures (2000-201) / P.A. Vinogradov, Yu.V. Okun'kov; ed. by V.L. Mutko. – Moscow: Sovetskiy sport, 2013. – 186 p.