In steps that would help in producing more sportspersons in the country, the government today strongly favoured having one period everyday in schools for games and physical education.
Speaking at the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education, the Sports Minister, M S Gill, said sports remained a neglected area in schools.
"Every school must have a compulsory sports period a day. The Central Schools and Navodaya Vidyalayas need to do more for sports," he said at the meeting chaired by HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.
The Sports Minister said according to the National Education Policy of 1986, sports was a part of education. "I want to provide sports and physical education a real place at all levels of education," he said. Gill said his ministry had started National Rural Sport Endeavour, a scheme under which 25,000 playgrounds had been constructed across the country.
He mooted the idea of making sports and games a component of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA). In a veiled reference to the problems faced by Indian students in Australia, the Minister expressed concern over certain foreign educational institutions duping students from India with false promises.
