The dual approach to man has been in contention since the time of Plato. Plato believed that man is the soul imprisoned in the body and that man as a rational being needs to free himself from the chains of the physical body. This idea did not just end with Plato but continued with his disciples like Descartes and other rationalists. In trying to solve how the two, body and soul interacted Descartes hypothesized that the body and soul were connected in the penal gland. However, he failed to convince many how the physical could influence the spiritual.
It is from Plato’s utopia that the idea of concentrating on educating the soul or intelligence and neglecting the physical came about. Many educationalists and educational institutes are platonic in their approach to human formation especially higher institutions where sports is considered to be a phenomenon of primary and secondary schools. If man can be divided into two then the soul might as well exist without the body in this life. However, this has not yet been verified thus it is prone to falsification except for those of us who believe in ghosts, but I do not think a ghost can be classified under human beings. Existentialists categorically state that man is “da sein”, he is in the world and one can only exist in the world as body and spirit. Therefore, sidelining one aspect of humanity in education is forming an incomplete person since one can not talk about a health mind without a health body.
It is from this point of view that Don Bosco Technical institute is equally concerned about the physical state of its learners by organizing various sporting activities ranging from intercourses tournaments and matches with other colleges. Currently, there is a tournament going on, the trophy is titled Principal’s cup. The games being played include football, volleyball and netball. On 20th February 2010, the college teams for football, volleyball and netball went to Lilongwe Teachers Training College where TTC was beaten in all the games, football ended 4-0, netball 42-12 and volleyball 3-1. It was a joyous moment for all the teams of DBTC.