The Department was established in 1994 to offer Certificate, Diploma and Bachelor's degree programmes in Physical, Health Education and Recreation. The certificate and diploma programmes were however phased out in 1999 in order to devote resources to the bachelor's and Master's degree programmes. The four- year Bachelor's degree programme requires grounding in courses such as physical education teacher education, sports science, health promotion, sports management/administration/marketing, recreation/leisure and sports psychology.

The Master's of Education (M.Ed.) degree programme commenced in August 2003 and offers specializations in the areas of Sport Pedagogy, Sports Science, Sports Management and Sports Psychology. Four cohorts of well-rounded and competent senior level personnel have since graduated from the programme and are currently working for different government departments. Over 20 students are currently enrolled in our Master's programme, while about 15 of them are in different phases of completion.

The Department has contributed tremendously in scholarly leadership and research particularly in the African region and works very closely with the promoters/providers of health, sports and recreation in and out of schools. The department currently has 15 full-time academic members of staff, 80 percent of who have PhD degrees in various areas of physical education and sport studies. Our academic and support staff have diversified training background, with qualifications obtained from institutions of higher learning in Africa, Europe, America and Australia.