Sports in government school

I have always believed that sports should be an integrated part of the school. School should be a place where children get enough opportunity to engage in physical activity so that it can become a part of their lifestyle.  

It is not that children are not at all engaging in physical activities. In many schools, we will find teachers conducting physical training (PT) exercises during the assembly or the children are set free from the classroom during the last period when teachers are engaged in administrative work. 

In the first case, during the PT exercise, teachers give instruction and the children standing in a straight line need to follow them. The performance of children is judged on how perfectly and how quickly they can follow the command. Can you think about what is a child learning from such an activity? 

Following commands? Does it remind you of something? Slavery mindset which the Britishers wanted to promote? We are all aware that mass education (public education) was started in India to promote its agenda. They didn’t want Indians who think but who followed orders. PT exercises are still that trace of colonialism that we can still see in our schools. 

On the other hand, is a situation in school. when children engage in local games during the last period. Though local games, helps children learn different life skills, they can also lead to exclusion and bring biases that may exist in the community. Children fight, do not engage with other children, and many children especially girls do not get the opportunity to play. Girls already have to engage in household work after going home and not getting opportunities to play in school promotes such biases and malice.

We need to find a balance between the two scenarios and the teachers can play an active role. We know that teachers are overburdened with the number of programs they need to implement and this seems like another responsibility that adds to the pile of work.

Our organization can help government school teachers to find volunteers who can help in organizing regular such programs for children. It will not only help Indian local games to revive but also help increase attendance in school and improve children’s focus in the classroom.

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