Integrating cost-effective sports program in government schools
I have always believed that sports should be an integrated part of the school. Especially when 97% of children are going to school (after the Sarva Sikha Program) and we can find a primary school every 2 kilometers. School should be a place where children get enough opportunity to engage in physical activity and can be an institution that sends a clear message on the importance of an active lifestyle so that children can form a lifelong habit. Not just physical health, sports can also help to learn different skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, manage emotions, which are also mentioned in India’s New Education Policy (NEP) that was released 2020. However, the situation on the ground is quite different.
I will not say 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 have to do the administrative work. However, I don't find any of these situations satisfactory.
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 perfection and how quickly they are able to follow the command. Does it remind you of something? Assembly line model of the industrial revolution? Feudalism? However, in the 21st century, we need to build skills such as critical thinking and problem-solving in children.
For the second situation, when children engage in free play during the last period, you will find many of them picking fights and many children, especially girls, sitting in the classroom. Though free play helps children learn different social skills, it can also lead to exclusion and bullying which should not happen in schools.
So, is there a better way to integrate sports programs in government schools?
The biggest challenge that I can identify is overburdened and stressed-out school teachers.
In a primary school consisting of an average of 50 children, there are only two teachers who teach all subjects along with managing the administrative work. Most of the children seriously lack fundamental literacy and numeracy skills (a global issue), leading to pressure from senior officials on teachers. In this scenario, the teacher gives the least importance to sports.
To address these issues, we need to make teachers realize how can sports and engaging in activities can help children to better focus and improve their readiness for the classroom. Physical activity releases endorphins in the body improving the general well-being of children. Integrating social-emotional components into sports sessions can help children better manage their emotions and deal with stressful situations. Regular sports sessions help achieve increase attendance in schools. Thus, sports sessions can help teachers to improve children’s academic outcomes.
Even if the teachers do not have time, help from social workers and community members can be taken to conduct sessions for children. The number of children in primary school on average is 50, and even conducting two sessions a week will require only 4-5 hours of a volunteer’s time. Sports is an easy to implement tool that can be done even with minimum training. Of course, children's protection must be in place.
Another major challenge in government schools is the limited infrastructure (lack of spaces, uneven ground, and no budget for sports equipment). To address these issues, we should look at the local games played by children. The local games are played based on the already available resources in the community and do not require much space. Bringing these games to school will also help the community and the school to come closer (something the NEP advocates for). However, we should also keep in mind that these games can also bring in community biases that may not be aligned with democratic values. So, the teacher's role, in that case, will be to create an inclusive, safe, and fun space for all children.
There is also an assumption that children coming to government schools are physically active and do not need to engage in sports. That is the reason, the government has not adhered to specific policies related to physical activity in schools. A large-scale study needs to be conducted to understand this better. Our organization is conducting a survey with 200 children going to the primary and middle government to learn how children feel about getting enough time to engage in physical activity or not and also to understand their physical and emotional needs better. The survey will be out in the next 2-3 weeks.
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Kushal Agarwal is the founder of Monkey Sports that promote children’s well-being through sports. The organization has worked in 14 schools with 1900 + children and trained over 50 teachers. Kushal has completed his Master’s in Sport Management from Springfield College, Massachusetts. He has also completed a one-year fellowship with Azim Premji Foundation.
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