THE HOT POTATO at this year's physical education conference will be the issue of whether or not physical education ought to become a subject for certification, says Grainne O'Donovan, chief administrator of the Physical Education Association of Ireland.

"Physical educators have been split down the middle on this one with advocators of certification believing that it will give the area the status it deserves on the curriculum.

"Those who oppose it believe that certification will kill the essence of physical education - education through the physical."

The issue will be addressed, to a greater or lesser extent, in all three conference keynote papers, and members of PEAI will cast their votes on the issue at the association's Tralee AGM on the morning of Saturday, October 5th.

The conference's Friday-night keynote address will concentrate on the issue. "Time to get off the fence: Issues relating to assessment and certification with particular reference to physical education" is the provocative title of the talk to be given by Aine Hyland, professor of education in UCC, that evening at 7.45 p.m. Two further "keynote" speeches, from Professor Mary O'Sullivan of Ohio State University and Eilis Humphreys of the Transition Year support team, will also address the question.

The theme of the conference, which will take place in Tralee's Mount Brandon Hotel from October 4th to October 6th, is "The value of physical education and the process for change".

Paula Rankin, chairwoman of the conference organising committee, calls the gathering an invaluable learning experience for physical and health experience for physical and health educators at all levels of the Irish education system."

The conference is hosted jointly by the Physical Education Association of Ireland, the University of Limerick and the Department of Education.

Telephone (061) 330442 for more information.