Sports Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar confirmed that the government has plans to introduce sports as a subject in the CBSE curriculum. This is a much-needed and welcome move that the government should implement soon. Every couple of years, we glance disapprovingly at our athletes returning home with their heads down from major sporting events and wonder why India, despite its vast human resources, cannot match other countries in most sports. Articles bemoan inferior facilities and coaching. Plans are drawn with the ambitious aim of garnering multiple Olympic medals within eight to 12 years. However, one topic that almost never gets debated is India lacking a sporting culture.
Making sports a compulsory subject in schools can set this right. Our schools are now all about academics with sports often termed—both by parents and teachers—a distraction. Many students who exhibit an interest in sports are discouraged and asked to focus on their studies. Even if parents encourage their child’s sporting activities, it is mostly limited to securing a sports quota entry to a college or a job. This move will place sports at the same level as physics, chemistry or math.
However, the government also needs to ensure that the proposal is implemented as soon as possible. For, this is not the first time this topic has been broached upon by the country’s highest sporting officials. Vijay Goel, who preceded incumbent Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore as sports minister, had talked about this while Bhatnagar’s predecessor Injeti Srinivas also attempted to introduce sports into the curriculum. He had attempted to get it done for the 2018-19 academic year but failed.
No doubt the HRD ministry too will play a part in this and the sports ministry must figure out how to bring about a consensus. At present, schools do have hours dedicated for physical education but it is often hijacked at will by teachers of other subjects. If the government gets it right, this might be a thing of the past.
