Lok Sabha Question No. 5069 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-03
Subject: Encouraging Children to Participate in Sports
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Manoj Kishorbhai Kotak

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL  EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO -5069 ANSWERED ON 03.04.2023

## Encouraging Children to Participate in Sports

## 5069. SHRI MANOJ KOTAK:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  any  proposal  to  encourage  children  towards  sports, particularly in schools for their active participation in sports activities;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether there is any proposal for mandatory involvement of school children in sports; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (d): Education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are within the purview of respective State Government and UT Administration. The Government  of  India  launched  Samagra  Shiksha-an  Integrated  Scheme  for  school education,  w.e.f.  2018-19,  as  an  overarching  programme  for  the  school  education  sector extending  from  pre-school  to  class  XII  and  aims  to  ensure  inclusive  and  equitable  quality education at all levels of school education.

Realizing the need for holistic development of children, under the Samagra Shiksha, Sports and Physical Education component has been introduced for encouragement of Sports, Physical activities, Yoga, Co-curricular activities etc. A provision has been made for grants for  sports  equipments  in  all  government  schools  at  the  rate  of  Rs.  5000  to  Rs.  25,000  for various  levels  in  schools per  annum.  In  addition,  as  per  new  norms  of  the  scheme,  an additional grant upto Rs. 25000 per school is provided to schools in case at least 2 students of that  school  win  the  medal  in  Khelo  India  National  school  games  competition.  During  the Year  2022-23,  an  outlay  of  Rs.726.72  Crore  has  been  approved  under  Sports  Grant  for Government Schools.

This Department has issued guidelines to States and UTs to ensure proper utilization of sports grant. These  guidelines  include  an indicative  list of  age appropriate  sports equipments for government schools. States and UTs have been advised to encourage schools to include traditional/regional games of the respective State/Region. The Department has also advised all the States/UTs to encourage students to avail the sports facilities available with the Department of Sports in the States/UTs free of cost as per the guidelines issued by Sports Authority of India (SAI). As per affiliation bye-laws of CBSE, all schools are compulsorily required to possess playground, other sports facilities for students and compulsory recruitment of Physical Education teacher at each level. The Board also ensures availability of these facilities through physical inspection.

As  per  the  National  Curriculum  Framework,  Health  and  Physical  Education  is  a Compulsory  subject  from  Class  I  to  X.  In  this  regard,  National  Council  of  Educational Research  and  Training  (NCERT)  has  brought  out  material  for  Class  VI,  VII  and  VIII  as Teachers  Guide  and  for  Class  IX  Textbooks  on  Health  and  Physical  Education  (HPE).  In addition, Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) has introduced a streamlined and well  designed  Health  and  Physical  Education  (HPE)  Program  to  mainstream  health  and physical  education  in  schools  for  students  of  class  I  -  XII.  CBSE  has  made  Health  and Physical Education compulsory in all classes from I-XII. The Board has directed schools to keep  one  period  of  HPE  for  classes  I-XII  each  day.  All  students  from  these  classes  are compulsorily required to participate in at least two sports activities as per their interest and capability and  this has been  included in the eligibility criteria to appear in  Board Examinations of classes X and XII .

Further,  with  a  view  to  achieving  the  twin  objectives  of  mass  participation  and promotion  of  excellence  in  sports,  the  Government  has  introduced  the  Scheme  of  'Khelo India  -  National  Programme  for  Development  of  Sports'.  The  Khelo  India  Scheme  is  the flagship  Central  Sector  Scheme  of  the  Ministry  of  Youth  Affairs  &  Sports  which  aims  at infusing  sports  culture  and  achieving  sporting  excellence  in  the  country  thus  allowing  the populace to harness the power of sports through its cross-cutting influence. The Khelo India programme includes play field development; community coaching development; promotion of  community sports; establishment of a strong sports competition structure at both school and university level as also for rural / indigenous sports, sports for persons with disability and women sports; filling up of critical gaps in sports infrastructure, including creation of hubs of sports  excellence  in  select  universities;  talent  identification  and  development;  support  to sports academies; implementation of a national physical fitness drive for school children; and sports for peace and development.