Lok Sabha Question No. 2936 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-21
Subject: Development of Children in Sports
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Nihal Chand Chauhan

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2936 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21 st  March, 2022

## Development of Children in Sports

## †2936. SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  formulate  any  new  scheme  to  encourage  children  in schools and colleges towards sports;

(b) the provisions made by the Government for the development of children in the field of sports at school level; and

(c) whether the Government is formulating any separate scheme for girl students after looking at their growing participation and better results in sports?

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

(a)  to  (c)  :  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 .

University  Grants  Commission  (UGC)  has  prepared  guidelines  for  institutional  fitness plan. These guidelines encourage higher educational institutions to adopt policies and practices towards fitness and well being of students and staff. The indicative guidelines inter-alia suggest denoting  minimum  one  hour  per  day  on  fitness  activities.  UGC  also  provided  Financial Assistance  to  eligible  colleges  under  the  scheme  'Development  of  Sports  Infrastructure  & Equipment' for promotion of sports with an idea to produce enough sports persons to participate in elite sports.

Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy  has  launched  an  Integrated  Scheme  Samagra Shiksha for School Education. Realizing the need for holistic development of children, under the Samagra Shiksha, Sports and Physical Education component has been introduced for the first time 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 will be 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 2021-22, an outlay of Rs. 822.19 Crore has been approved under Sports Grant for Government Schools.

Ministry  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. This department has also advised to 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.

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  playfield 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.