PANAJI: The Goa Education Department has asked schools in the State to re-schedule their first-term exams so that students can watch the FIFA U-17 World Cup matches that Goa will host in October.
Director of Education G.P. Bhat issued a circular requesting all heads of schools to re-schedule the exams to conclude on or before October 7. “Regular classes will continue till the end of the term,” the circular said.
Mr. Bhat told The Hindu on Wednesday that the high-level steering committee set up for the World Cup had made a request to this effect. The committee, headed by Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma, has been formed by the Goa government to hasten decision-making in setting up infrastructure for the World Cup.
Inspiring the young
Chief secretary Dharmendra Sharma told The Hindu that the FIFA motto, as per the memorandum of understanding signed for the Under-17 event, is to promote football among the youth, as it is an aspirational sport. With this in mind, the steering committee suggested to the Education Department to consider avoiding a clash in the exam schedules and the World Cup games, so that students would be able to benefit from the one-time opportunity to see a world sporting event.
Boost to ticket sales
Mr. Sharma said that unlike Delhi, Kolkata and other venues in the country, where almost 80% of the match tickets have been sold out, in Goa, ticket sales has been down despite heavily subsidised prices. He said rescheduling exams should help the ticket sales pick up.
Goa will host four matches between October 7 and 21 at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda, South Goa. The State is expected to host the Germany and Brazil under-17 teams, who will play matches against Costa Rica (October 7) and Niger (October 13) respectively.
Football is popular across all sections of the population in Goa. In 2012, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had declared football as the official State sport. He had also set up the Goa State Football Development Council to further popularise the sport in the state.
