Make sports an integral part of the curriculum

The role of sports in the all-round development of the child need hardly be overstressed. But how come our schooling continues to be “All work and no play” though it is proverbially known to “make Jack a dull boy”?

The reason is not far to seek.  Sports does not figure anywhere in the curriculum. As a natural corollary, any time invested in sports is regarded as at the cost of the curriculum rather than in furtherance of it.

The possible remedy for this malaise is to make sports an integral part of the curriculum itself, at least up to the matriculate level. It should be placed on par with other subjects, with marks et al. Everyone should be asked to choose some sports discipline or the other and judged at the end of the year as is the case with other subjects. Distinctions and marks should be decided on the marks secured by the candidates including that in sports.

Of course, this is likely to throw up a host of problems. Lack of infrastructure may be one; trained teachers may be the other. But ‘where there is a will there is a way’. If African countries could work wonders with not even a semblance of infrastructure, why can’t we? Further, if sports is made compulsory some sort of it is bound to develop through sheer necessity. And as far as ‘know how’ is concerned, where it is in short supply, the services of sports bodies and associations could be roped in.