Physical education no more must in Punjab

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 28

Punjab, that has introduced ‘Tandarust Khelo Punjab’ to promote physical fitness among schoolchildren, has strangely done away with physical education as a compulsory subject for Classes IX and X. 

Students will now appear for seven compulsory subjects instead of eight — Punjabi or Punjab history and culture, English, Hindi/Urdu, math, science, social science and computer science. However, they may pick an elective subject from a list of 36, including physical education. 

DPI (Elementary Education) Inderjit Singh explained: “We merely intend to reduce the load on seniors. It will certainly not translate into fewer on-campus sports activities.” But some teachers and school heads have taken umbrage to the government decision. 

Democratic Teachers Front secretary Davinder Singh Punjab said it was a move to cut down posts of Physical Education Instructor (PTI).

“There has been no appointment of PTIs in schools for the past seven or eight years. What kind of a society will we build if we don’t care to have our children physically fit?” he asked.

The Director, Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS), Sukhbir Singh Grewal, however, welcomed the Punjab School Education Board decision. “Despite being a compulsory subject for decades, there have been no noteworthy results in terms of medals. Instead of cramming textbooks on physical education, students must be encouraged to spend more time on the playground, and you will see the difference.”

Yoga expert Prof Akshay Anand (PGI) warned that the move would be disastrous. “Exercise keeps the body fit. Children will now be spending even more time before TV/video screens. This will clog their minds and affect their growth. We are doing our children a great disservice.”

Describing sports as an important “building blocks in a child’s life”, a school principal in Amritsar district pointed out: “Diseases such as obesity and diabetes are on the rise among schoolchildren. With physical education no more compulsory for them, things will only turn worse. The government needs to rethink.”