Sports to be made compulsory subject

The Union HRD ministry has asked the committee drafting the New Education Policy to integrate sports in the new policy. Academicians have welcomed it stating it would help students develop holistically. For over six months, the union government consulted various stakeholders, including parents, teachers and students offline & online on devising the new policy. As part of the consultation, the HRD ministry constituted a committee to integrate sports in higher education as part of New Education Policy.

The committee’s terms of reference include charting a blue print to integrate sports within the university framework, identifying priority areas of sports infrastructure including choice of specific sports and creating the necessary partnerships with internationally acclaimed universities, which have established sports infrastructure and developed sports education. Commenting on the need to incorporate sports as a separate subject in higher education, former Madras University vice-chancellor Prof. G. Thiruvasagam said the “education system should not only develop students for academics but also in different fields like sports to ensure their holistic development.” “Education institutions need to appoint qualified physical directors and create good infrastructure for sports,” he said.