Abstract:

Background:
Physical education (PE) is an educational course related to keeping fit through physical activity and exercises. It is taken during primary and secondary education and encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting to promote health.
According to the President of the Russian Federation (RF), development of domestic PE and sports is a collective task which is beyond the scope of just one body, whether it is the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Health, or the Ministry of Sport. The solution should involve local authorities as well as mass media support. Regional law-making in the RF is now oriented to the enhancement of PE and sport management.
The aim of our research was to estimate the main tendencies characterizing changes in the RF regional system of PE in general and in individual structural components (organizational, regulatory, theoretical, methodical, and conceptual) and to compare these tendencies with global trends.

Materials and Methods:
We reviewed literature, documentary, and regulatory sources and used general logic methods of data analysis and synthesis. We also estimated special-purpose programs implemented under the patronage of regional ministries of PE, sport and tourism: “Development of information society and formation of digital government in Chelyabinsk Oblast”; “Regional special-purpose program of preliminary military training of youth in Chelyabinsk Oblast”; and “Social support of physically challenged people in Chelyabinsk Oblast in 2011-2016”.

Results:
The law #329-FZ “On physical education and sports in the Russian Federation” enacted in 2007 initiated changes of some local laws in several regions of the RF, but the overall situation is still ambiguous. We assessed the key accomplishments of individual regions and performed critical analysis of activity of regional ministries of PE, sport and tourism based on the evidence of Chelyabinsk Oblast. The revealed positive tendencies include the growing number of people engaged in PE and sport, annual regional and local budgeting and funding of additional contracts for head coaches of sports schools and children’s sports clubs, and a well-formed complex system of sport event organization for various groups of population.

Conclusions:
On-going transformations of main structural components (organizational, regulatory, theoretical, methodical, and conceptual) of the Russian PE system may become a precondition for positive changes in the functioning of this system in regions of the RF. The key point is that these transformations are consistent with global tendencies and complement them bringing in specific regional and national aspects.

Keywords:

Physical education system, regional special-purpose programs.