Majority CBSE schools in Assam flout sports guidelines

Majority CBSE schools in Assam flout sports guidelines

GUWAHATI: Six months ago the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had made it mandatory for its affiliated schools of conducting sports classes regularly. But till this date only some schools in Assam have followed the CBSE’s guideline while majority flouting the same.

Even though having suitable and adequate sports infrastructures is one of the prime requisitions of a school to get affiliation from the CBSE, many affiliated schools in the State are running without such infrastructures which has resulted in their failure to hold sports classes regularly as per the central board’s guideline.

Rakhi Sarma of Pub Sarania in the city whose children go to one of the leading CBSE affiliated schools told this reporter that both her son and daughter have never participated in any sports class in their school. “The school is yet to have a playground on its own. It organizes its annual sports either in Nehru Stadium and playground of College of Veterinary Science, Khanapara,” Sarma said.

Sarma is not alone. Many parents in the city have the same story to tell. Barring Don Bosco School, Pan Bazar, Royal Global School, Maharishi Vidyamandir, Modern High School and few others, many CBSE affiliated schools in Guwahati do not have suitable and quality sports infrastructures.

The CBSE has made health education and physical education mandatory for the students of Class IX to XII. As per the new guidelines issued by the CBSE, the students have to attend the sports classes every day. The guidelines also emphasizes that the schools affiliated with CBSE will have a daily sports period for all classes.

According to the new notification, the students have to go to the playground during the Health and Physical Education period but will be free to perform any physical activity listed in the handbook and will be graded on the same. The CBSE has made both Health and Physical Education, qualifying subjects for which grades will be offered and is mandatory for students to be entitled to appear for the Class X and XII board exams.

“It will be impossible for many CBSE schools in the State and some of them even in Guwahati to follow the new instruction due to lack of sports infrastructures. A good number of schools do not even have playgrounds,” a teacher at a leading CBSE school said.

An official at the regional office of CBSE in Guwahati said the move is a step to prevent growing obesity among school children. He said the decision was taken with the aim of “preventing children from having a sedentary lifestyle or turn into couch potatoes”. “We will see all schools follow the instruction,” the official said.

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